


To My Heart Through My Stomach

by SerenaJones



Series: Head Heart Stomach Repeat [2]
Category: Mpreg - Fandom, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe, M/M, Mpreg, Omega Verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:00:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 31,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26104588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerenaJones/pseuds/SerenaJones
Summary: It's a stupid title but grandmother always told you that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. This isn't quite what she meant. Follow up to From My Head to My Heart.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto, Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi
Series: Head Heart Stomach Repeat [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1895356
Comments: 63
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

“...other news, omega magic hit the catwalk in Washington yesterday as six of the hottest omega names in fashion join Alpha Gigi Hadid….”

Seto stopped walking and watched the newscast. A clip of Jou walking the runway was followed by some other handsome man.

“Are you a fan of fashion, Mr. Kaiba?” the American with him asked.

“No. Just of the model Jou.”

“Oh!” The man lowered his voice. “If you’d like, while you’re here, there’s a club -”

“He’s my Tsuma.”

“- that…. Pardon?”

“Jou is my Tsuma. Japanese for ‘wife’.” Seto smiled honestly, still enjoying peoples’ surprised responses. “Our second anniversary is next month, in fact.”

“Wife? But - you said you were 19?”

“Yes,” Seto chuckled and began walking again. “When Jou and I bonded, I decided to make the relationship more, well, ‘binding’ for both of us.”

“I see. Kids?”

“Not yet,” Seto sighed. “Taking a year - or more - off from a modeling career is difficult. And apart from the company, I’m taking college courses so I wouldn’t be much help.”

“I see. You two are still really young, too. Oh, this building here. I’ll get the door, sir.”

That was the question.

Over the last two years, at home or abroad, at professional or social events, from strangers, friends and family.

When are you having children?

No one had truly been surprised by an Alpha-omega wedding with both parties still under majority. Seto’s insistence that they marry immediately had fueled everyone’s belief that Katsuya was with child. But fairly quickly people changed from asking ‘is he pregnant’ to ‘when will he be’. And that was becoming a massive problem.

“This way, Mr. Kaiba.” His host lead him to the conference.

Roland was already there, and had notes and coffee waiting. Seto tried to spend the day focused on technology trends affecting emerging markets, but getting his wife pregnant was the only problem he couldn’t seem to solve.

Kaiba Katsuya, known worldwide as the handsome omega model Jou, was in fact an Alpha male. He was happy to play the omega role in both his personal and professional life. But that did not change the fact that Katsuya was an Alpha and could not bear children.

That was Seto’s task.

Women and omegas bear children and keep house. They were wives and mothers and pretty toys that high-powered Alpha executives displayed on their arms like designer suits. An omega certainly did not run a multi-billion dollar corporation. An omega speaking at an international business conference? Preposterous!

“Mr. Kaiba? If you would?”

Seto stood up. “Thank you, chairman. First, allow me to introduce myself for those unfamiliar with our company….”

The presentation was short. An overview of how they implemented an omega internship program that, so far, works. When he finished, he went back to trying to solve his more pressing personal dilemma.

After the seminar, he had to give his attention to interacting with the other speakers and attendees. He exchanged business cards and even spoke with several people worth contacting again.

But he was grateful when the organizers announced the end of the program.

“What time is our flight?” he asked Roland.

“7:30, sir.” His assistant almost smiled. “I believe that gives you time for a detour before dinner.”

Of all the things Gozaburo had ‘given’ Seto, the one he may have treasured most was Roland.

The local Fashion Week began yesterday. Katsuya was modeling for his friend Gigi.

Tamora had the car waiting at the conference center door, and drove them to the venue. It took some time to navigate through the beautiful people and over-styled clothing but eventually they found the right booth.

“OTTO-SAMA!” Katsuya nearly tackled Seto. He hugged him, squeezing the breath from him.

“Tsuma - darling -,” Seto had to laugh. “- I can’t breathe!”

“Suck it up, handsome!” Katsuya snickered, kissing him. “How long are you here?”

“Dinner.”

“Aw!” Kat pouted for a moment, but took Seto’s hand. “Come on! Oh, hey Roland, hey Tamora - come meet Gigi.” He waved at a few other beautiful people. “This is my husband. I’m taking a break. Be back.” 

They found the model-turned-designer, made more introductions, and left the event.

“Do you want to eat?” Katsuya asked. “Have you eaten yet?”

“I’d rather go to a hotel.”

“They don’t do that here.”

“Another reason this country is inferior.”

“Grumpy.” Katsuya kissed him again, lightly, and pulled him gently. “Moby Dick’s is around the corner. Best kebabs ever. Tamora - they have beef!” he teased.

His tone was light, his smile warm, but Seto knew when his wife was unhappy.

“I wish I could stay longer, but I’m scheduled to -”

“I know,” Katsuya shrugged. “It’s okay.”

“If it is okay, then stand still, look me in the eye, and tell me it’s okay.”

“It’s okay.” Katsuya’s eyes reached almost his chin.

“You are a terrible liar.”

“You’re busy. I’m busy. I can’t make you just stay in bed with me all day.”

“You could at least tell me you want to.”

“You don’t tell me,” Kat whined. “You’re not that selfish so -”

“Kaiba,” Roland interrupted with a casual tone. “Are we going to dinner or are we going to debate which of you fawns over the other more?”

“Dinner,” Tamora answered. “There is no question that Kat-chan fawns more.”

“I disagree.” The secretary moved toward the corner. “Kaiba fawns incessantly.”

“I think I need to find a more respectful staff!” Seto smirked. He lifted Katsuya’s chin. “In two weeks we leave for our vacation, and you will have a full, uninterrupted month with me. Unless your schedule has changed?”

“No. Yours?”

“Absolutely not.” Seto pecked his lips. “We just need to be patient for a bit longer.”


	2. Chapter 2

Thonis Island was a 15 hour flight. It wasn’t the longest flight Katsuya had ever taken, but it was too long to be trapped in any vehicle, even a luxury one.

The only thing that made it bearable was that he was able to cuddle with Seto the entire time. No one was on the plane but family.

It seemed odd, at first, to include the bodyguards as family, but they clearly were.

At home, Roland and Tamora were more like Seto’s parents than his employees. Nakamura, Muranaka, and Shinko acted like Mokuba’s best buddies. They were more likely to be in trouble with the boy than keeping him out of it.

Kat had ‘traded’ Nakamura to his brother-in-law when KaibaSecurity hired one of his old school friends, Honda Hiroto. Having Honda around all the time felt less like having a bodyguard and more like hanging out with a friend. Like family.

“Tsuma?” Seto kissed Kat’s temple. “We’ll be landing soon. I’m going to the restroom. Do you want anything while I’m up?”

“Another kiss?”

Seto gave it, then slipped away.

The only halfway omega thing about his husband was how crazy affectionate he was. Hugs, kisses, silly texts, cute gifts. He never forgot anything - the day they met, their first kiss, first date, first everything! Seto was nothing like the Alphas Kat was used to.

But he wasn’t like any omega, either. He was manly. Virile. Independent. If Seto said he would do it, it got done. Not even feminine by accident. Even on Halloween, Katsuya couldn’t talk him into crossdressing - with Mokuba, they would have been perfect as the Powerpuff Girls. Instead, they went to the I3 costume party as Zoro and a damsel-in-distress.

Not that Seto hadn’t been all kinds of hot in tight pants and a cape.

The pilot made the landing announcement as Seto returned, and Kat perked up for another reason. This vacation was time for him to spend with his husband, true, but it was also the first time he’d seen Yugi since graduation.

And as expected, Yugi was waiting at the airport.

“It’s so good to see you!” he gushed, hugging his friend. “Wait - Honda-kun! You came too?”

“That’s why they pay me!” the bodyguard laughed.

“This is going to be so much fun!” Yugi hugged Honda as well. “Kaiba-san! It’s good to see you, too! And Mokuba!”

“Dude!” Katsuya laughed. “Calm down! Hey, where’s the Prince?”

“The _King_ ,” Yugi grinned, “is at the palace. It’s always a mess when he comes to the airport. That’s why it’s just me and Isis. OH! You haven’t met Isis!”

A few feet behind Yugi, was an adolescent Arab girl. She stared, star-struck, at Katsuya. Yugi took her hand and pulled her forward. “Don’t be shy! Everybody’s really nice! Everybody? This is Daughter of the Western Sand Isis Ishtar, third Queen of Atemu the First. Isn’t she beautiful?”

Seto stepped forward and bowed. “We are most honored to meet you, your highness. I am Kaiba Seto, and this is my family.”

The girl looked at Seto, wide eyed, as a deep blush spread across her face. She said something in Coptic.

“Oh! Right, right,” Yugi laughed. “I forgot! Kaiba-san, stand up. A man never bows his head to a girl here.” Yugi spoke to the girl for a moment and she seemed to calm down.

Then she gasped, straightened her shoulders, and dropped gracefully to her knees. She said something that sounded very formal and opened her arms wide.

“She said welcome,” Yugi translated.

“All that was welcome?” Kat asked.

“It’s all traditional. It doesn’t translate well. It’s sort of ‘please embrace the sand of my body’, which doesn’t really make sense.”

“I see,” Seto nodded. “Then please reply to her appropriately.”

Yugi grinned sheepishly. He said something in Coptic, and she stood up, glaring at him. “Come on, everyone!” He gave her a brotherly half-hug. “we’ve got a van to take us to the palace, and a huge meal, and you have to see Asha!”

Asha. Yugi and Atemu’s baby girl.

Seto hadn’t said anything directly about kids, and had more or less dodged the question every time it came up with a line about not being ready or their schedules being too busy. But as hectic as things were occasionally, they still spent more time together than apart. At first, Katsuya was glad Seto wasn’t interested in kids. But then Kat began to notice tiny giveaways. The lingering looks at baby pictures. The ever so slight hesitation before answering the ‘babies question’. The way he gravitated toward pregnant people. Seto was the one excited about meeting Asha, although few people could see it behind his stony exterior.

But Kat could. Katsuya could see it crystal clear. Seto’s biological clock was ticking so loud, it was probably keeping the neighbors up at night.


	3. Chapter 3

Tamora wore cargo shorts and a polo shirt. Roland wore a yellow sundress and a large, floppy hat.

“Have you decided where to go on your trip?” Seto asked them.

“Rome,” Roland stated. “I’ve been to the city three times and I’ve never seen it.”

Tamora shrugged. “Anywhere is fine.”

“So long as I stay here, I suppose?” Seto chuckled. “Isono-chan, I suggest you do your sightseeing before you arrive at your hotel.”

Roland gave his employer a coy look. “I’ll see Rome. We’ll spend my week there, and his week, well, some place quiet.”

“I see. Well. Enjoy.”

They got in the car. No affection required. Tamora gave him one last look before closing the door.

“I promise, I will not leave the island until you return.” Seto huffed. “Atemu has enough security to protect the UN, and if I am not safe here, then take me with you!”

For a moment, Tamora looked as if he was considering it.

“Close the door, Akio,” Roland insisted, “or I won’t do ‘it’.”

Tamora seemed to surprise himself with how quickly he closed the door. The car pulled away and Seto found himself alone.

Pre-dawn on the palace grounds. No one stirring but servants, guards, and those with 6am flights. Seto had considered going to the airport with them, but this way they would blend in with the common tourists.

Katsuya had still been asleep when Seto slipped out to see his team off. Now that he was awake, he didn’t want to wake his wife. There was a garden behind the palace. Seto headed that direction.

A square pond filled with water lilies, lotus blossoms, and koi fish was surrounded by flowers on two sides, and what appeared to be herbs and vegetables on the third. The furthest was lined with willows and fruit trees. A slight breeze carried the scent of them to him. The moon was high and bright; it reflected off the pond.

“What a view,” a familiar voice sighed.

Seto looked up. Katsuya was looking down at him from the balcony one level above. “The garden?”

“You.” Kat smiled. “They’re on their way?”

“Roland insists he is going to tour Rome.”

“Yeah? Heh. ¥100 says Tamora jumps him before they get to Italy.”

“Frankly, I don’t think they’ll make the airport.”

“Probably not,” Katsuya snickered. “Come here.”

Seto glanced around. A large trellis and grapevine covered the wall, but there were no stairs or even a ladder.

“Come on. Just climb.”

“Hardly.”

“Tsk!” Kat heaved himself up and over the balcony’s edge. Carefully he made his way down the tree-like vines.

“I wonder which is worth more,” Seto tried to appear unconcerned, “you or the grapes. They do make their own wine here, you know.”

“Relax. If I fall, you’ll catch me. Right?”

“I don’t see why I would. Why should I be at risk over your foolishness.” But as he spoke, Seto casually moved closer to where Kat was coming down. Something wooden snapped. “Don’t -!”

“Worried?”

“Of course not.” Seto’s eyes never left Katsuya’s form.

When he was nearly on the ground, Kat simply jumped the remaining few feet, and Seto caught him as he landed.

“See?” Kat slipped his arms around his husband’s waist. “Otto-sama would never let me fall.”

They kissed softly and Seto slid his arms around his wife’s neck. “Why do you insist on being so much trouble?”

“Who, me?” They kissed again. “Let’s do it here. Now.”

“You realize Atemu and Mokuba’s rooms both also overlook this garden.” 

“So? I wanna feel you inside me.”

“Last night wasn’t enough?” Another kiss. “I thought you used a suppressant.”

Another kiss. “Didn’t bring it.”

“Oh. Well.” More kisses. “This may be interesting.”

“Will it?”

“Yes. I seem to have left mine as well. Inadvertently.”

“Accidentally... on purpose.”

“Do you... doubt... my... sin...ser...ity?”

“...uh-huh…”

Katsuya’s breath was in Seto’s ear, and his hands were under his shirt, caressing his chest. Seto tangled his fingers in Kat’s hair and let himself be swept away by his wife’s passion.

Unfettered lust had been the recurring theme of their vacation so far. Atemu and Yugi were excessively physically affectionate, and a week in their presence had enticed Katsuya to follow their example.

Seto was in heaven. His wife really did have the insatiable sex drive of an omega in heat, and all the attention was happily driving Seto mad. After only a week he was beginning to question the wisdom of leaving the suppressant at home.

But the simple truth was that Seto wanted to leave it. He’d never experienced a heat cycle without some kind of chemical in his bloodstream to control it. As a point of fact, he’d begun taking the suppressant before he’d begun having heat cycles. The only time he’d had any problems was the rather distressing month he’d met Katsuya. Meeting the Alpha that later Bonded him threw his body into chaos. After Kat’s bite, however, Seto’s cycle was like clockwork, and when suppressed, hardly more noticeable than a slight fever.

But an omega’s heat was supposed to be noticeable. It was supposed to turn rational people into rutting beasts. It was supposed to be days of unstoppable sex with no regard for time or place. Seto couldn’t even imagine what that kind of desire felt like. His first heat with Katsuya had been hell. It had been burning frustration and mind-altering interminable agony.

So once - just once - Seto wanted to feel what was arguably the only benefit of being born omega: the physiological ecstasy of heat. And this vacation he intended to have his chance.

“Tsuma,” Seto enjoyed his wife’s attention for a moment longer, then gently pushed him away. “We are going to behave ourselves today, and spend the entire day with my brother and your friends. Would you like to know why?”

Katsuya smiled wryly and sighed. “Because tomorrow Moke-kun goes home to get back to school and you won’t see him for almost three weeks.”

“That is part of it. But the next day Atemu’s court is going to Nice.”

“Nice is cool. Get you on the beach in a speedo.”

“Tsk, tsk. You must learn to listen. I said King Atemu and his court are traveling.”

“Okay. So that’s Yugi, Grandpa, and the 40,000 wives.” Katsuya looked thoughtful. “So where are we going?”

“We have been asked to ‘house sit’.”

“House sit? A palace?”

“Would you prefer to go to France?”

“Depends. How long are they going?”

“Almost three weeks.”

“So, it’s gonna be you and me and…?”

“The desert.” Seto smirked. “I’m sure a certain amount of staff will remain, but they are largely inconspicuous.”

“But basically, we’ll be alone.”

“Basically.”

“For three whole weeks.”

“Almost three weeks. Twenty days to be precise.”

“That’s a long time.” Katsuya’s lips twisted cutely. “Sure you won’t get sick of me?”

“I think I can manage. What about you? No one will be here to admire you.”

“You’ll be here. Who else do I need?”

“Very good answer.” Seto pulled him close again. “Now, I don’t want to spend the day ‘distracted’ shall we say. But Atemu suggested we watch the sunrise over the desert one morning. He recommended the pool across from our room for viewing.”

“I get to see you in a speedo after all.”

“Is that all you want to see?”

“Nah, I wanna see you out of a speedo, too.”


	4. Chapter 4

Katsuya had fallen in love with the four-post bed. No matter what position they were in, there was something for Kat to grab while his husband fucked him stupid.

Ever since Yugi and family left, fuck was almost all he and Seto had done. The pool. All six gardens. At sunrise, at sunset, at high noon, at midnight. You’d think doing nothing but having sex for five days in a row would get boring, but each time they stopped Katsuya couldn’t wait to start again.

Someone was cooking meals and doing laundry, and leaving things quietly where they could be found when needed. The first night, ‘things’ included a box of condoms.

They didn’t need them. Another nice thing about an Alpha bottom - no accidents. Just wave after wave of sheer pleasure. Amazing pleasure. Seto was big, especially for an omega. He was almost as big as Katsuya, if you didn’t count the knot. And it wasn’t just size. Seto knew just how much to play with Kat’s body. How to make him cum, even with no dicks involved. All it took was a talented tongue, skilled hands, and a voice that made Katsuya shiver. And, occasionally, eyes that burn like sapphire fire.

Those eyes were burning now.

“It’s too hot here.” Seto rubbed the length of his body against Kat. The brunette was slick with sweat. It should have been gross, but the smell made Kat hard again. “Let’s go for a swim.”

His husband kissed him lightly then stood up slowly. Seto was lean. Cat-like. Graceful. Naked. He smirked at Katsuya as he crossed the room and picked up a towel. “Coming?”

“Swimsuit?”

He didn’t reply, but Seto’s expression turned coy as he left the room.

Katsuya’s heart began pounding. How had he never noticed that perfect ass before? Seto’s scent lingered in the hall as his wife followed him to the natural pool surrounded by palm trees.

He was standing at the edge, eating a piece of honey-soaked fruit. Licking his hand as the juices dripped down. Sapphire fire igniting Katsuya’s flames.

Katsuya took his hand. Licked and sucked the fingers holding the fruit. The honey was sweet, but his husband was sweeter. Kat licked his lips, his chin, anywhere the sweet taste of him lingered. When Seto purred it seemed to make him taste all the sweeter.

Seto began moving, stepping to the side, but Kat refused to let him go. Then his leg bumped the lounge and he let himself be pushed down. They kissed passionately as Seto straddled him. Their cocks rubbed together, exciting Katsuya further.

Then Seto lifted his hips away. Before Kat could complain, he brought them down again, engulfing Kat’s cock in his tight anal sheath.

Katsuya gasped as the hot, slick opening squeezed over his suddenly expanding knot. Omegas lubricated naturally, just like women, and Kat had tasted his husband sweetness in the past. But Seto had never shown any desire to be bottom and Kat had never topped before. Anyone. Even in his fantasies, he was always the ‘cat’.

Seto was moaning deeply, but the sound was distant as Katsuya tried to grasp what was happening. Being inside his husband, feeling Seto pulsing and trembling was beyond any dream. He tried to speak, but all that came out was an animalistic growl. His husband whimpered in reply.

I want to come, Kat thought.

Seto felt divine, but he wasn’t moving fast enough. Katsuya rolled him over. Pushed his husband’s legs up. Snarled as Seto mewled. Pumped his hips faster.

It seemed to take forever to reach his peak. He seemed to simply build and build without end. Seto’s screams encouraged him, especially when he drummed his heels into Kat’s back or dug his nails into his shoulders. Seto’s seed added to the sweat coating them both.

It was so good, it was actually painful. The knot twinged every time Katsuya pulled back, forcing his strokes to be short but deep. Seto arched against him as if to push him deeper. He came again, biting Kat’s neck.

The bite set him off. Katsuya felt his orgasm start. He felt Seto coming again.

He lost track of time.

When he woke again, it was to the scent of Seto and roasted meat. He couldn’t tell which he wanted more. Then he realized something.

“Are you eating while we fuck?” His cock was still wholly inside Seto as his husband ate another piece of roast pork from a conveniently placed table.

Seto shrugged. “I didn’t want to get up, and I was awake when they brought the tray. So I had them place it here.”

“And you don’t care that people saw you, like that?” Although in truth, seeing his husband sitting on his cock was making Katsuya’s knot swell again.

“Don’t you want to fuck me with everyone watching, Jou-sama?” Seto cooed, doing a dead-on impersonation of an omega in heat.

Seto leaned sideways - putting delicious pressure on Kat’s knot - then leaned forward to feed him a piece of meat. Kat took the food and licked the fingers that served it. Seto did it again. And again. Each time, Kat’s knot expanded, Seto’s breathing got deeper and he began twitching. The twitching made Katsuya expand.

Kat grabbed his hips. “Come for me.”

Seto leaned back on his hands, head back and groaning. He twisted his hips, “you first, Tsuma-sama!”

Katsuya wasn’t aware of much after that. He was lost in full on rut.

He’d never experienced it before - not full on. Not the way Yugi described Atemu. Being unable to eat or sleep. Orgasming for ten minutes - or longer - at a time, and being ready to go again an hour later. Kat only remembered being hard enough to knot once - once when Yugi had gone into heat at school and had almost pushed Kat with him.

Not that Katsuya hadn’t gotten off before he met his husband. He’d gone as far as getting a blowjob at the club once. That made him come, but didn’t make him knot. And with his husband, sex was so good he never had time to knot. Instead, usually Seto made him come, and come, and come again.

Now, the smell of Seto’s skin was making him knot and stay knotted. The sound of his voice was pushing him higher. The heat of their bodies was keeping the flame of Seto’s eyes lit, and Katsuya could only burn in the unrelenting passion.


	5. Chapter 5

Seto woke to a gentle, but persistent tapping at the door.

“Most honored guest,” a voice called, “please forgive us.”

After almost three weeks of coming and going in perfect silence, Seto could not imagine why the palace servants were waking him at dawn. Katsuya seemed to sleep through anything, but Seto still tended to be a light sleeper.

He got up and opened the door. “Yes?”

“Please forgive us, most honored guest,” the head butler was bowing so low, his head was at Seto’s knees. “His majesty is en route from the airport. You are needed in the courtyard.”

Seto yawned. It was probably illegal to sleep when the king arrives. “I see. Very well. We will be out momentarily.” He closed the door and yawned again as he returned to bed. “Tsuma, darling.” He gave his wife a shake. “Time to get up.” The man rolled over. “Katsuya, you have until the count of three, and then I will bite that lovely ass of yours.”

Katsuya grumbled but didn’t move.

“Very well. Three.” He moved the sheet and solidly sank his teeth into the succulent flesh.

“OWW!” Katsuya actually jumped out of the bed as Seto laughed uproariously. “What the fuck?!”

“That’s the fastest you’ve ever gotten up!” Seto got up himself and put on one of the house robes common in the area. “I’ll have to remember that when we get home.”

“What the hell?” Kat twisted to look at his rear. “That hurt!”

“Dress. The King is returning.”

“You bit me!”

“You bit me. I didn’t complain. Dress. I’m sure it’s considered rude to appear before royalty in that state.”

His wife seemed to grin despite himself. “Pervert.” He grabbed a pair of sleep shorts from the floor. “You know I’m gonna get you back for that, right?”

“I know. Shirt.” He led the way to the courtyard. A few servants were rushing about, but most of the staff were waiting in neat lines.

“Jeez! Have all these people been here the whole time?” Kat marvelled. “Where were they hiding?”

“We just stay out of the residence,” Honda said.

Katsuya actually jumped into Seto, who simply laughed again.

“Dude! You scared the shit outta me! Where the hell you been?”

“Guards barracks,” the bodyguard chuckled. “Great guys.”

Someone shouted and the last few employees raced into place. Several cars pull in.

Yugi popped out of the first car. “We’re back! How was it? Did you go to the race? Did you know about the race?”

“Beloved!” Atemu and two of his wives joined them. “It is too early in the morning to torture people.”

“It’s too early in the morning for anything,” the older woman complained. “I want a divorce so I can marry a Japanese! His wife didn’t even have to get dressed!” She gestured to Katsuya.

Atemu rolled his eyes. “I must go see my father who apparently still wants to run the kingdom he gave me.”

Isis and the fourth wife joined them as the second complained in Coptic. Suddenly, all four women were berating the King, who huffed and stalked off into the palace.

Yugi laughed. “Don’t worry, none of that was serious. Well, except for Father. He and Grandpa are supposed to be retired, but he’s been king since he was 12, so I don’t think he knows how to do anything else.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Seto snarked.

“So how was the trip?” Katsuya asked.

Seto listened to the friends chat about their time apart.

Roland and Tamora had already returned from Italy. Mokuba had long since returned to school. Rather rapidly, this vacation in paradise was coming to an end.

It had been wonderful having time to just be with Katsuya. And his heat cycle had been more pleasant than he’d thought possible. Allowing his wife to top him had been novel, but not the rapture he’d been led to believe by AVs and every romantic drama. Then again, few things in real life were as heavenly - or as hellacious - as they were on TV.

Now was time to begin turning his thoughts back to ’real’ life. The junior year of his sociology degree would start shortly after their return. And while KaibaCorp could run without him, he felt more secure being there. Mokuba had taken an interest in several projects and was becoming more active in corporate operations. That was good. The sooner his younger brother could take his proper place as CEO, the sooner Seto could retire and fade out of sight.

Forgive me, Papa, he thought, but I don’t want to run the world. In truth, Seto didn’t know what he wanted to do with his time. He’d never had any options other than run KaibaCorp or be a sex toy. Part of the reason he’d chosen sociology rather than business or something computer related as his college major was because it allowed him to study people. Maybe if he did run the world, and learn how to make everyone happy, he would learn to be happy himself.

Mokuba was starting high school. In five years, he’d be an adult, and would inherit all of their guardian’s assets. Seto would finally be free to do whatever he wanted. He had some savings, and more importantly, a working wife. They could get by - with or without KaibaCorp.

At the moment, however, Kaiba was very much Seto’s responsibility. He had employees to make happy - if not the whole world - and running it was, overall, fun. Not as much fun as a vacation with his wife, but close.


	6. Chapter 6

It was a quiet night at home. A normal, quiet evening which was utterly abnormal in their normally insane schedule.

Katsuya sighed contentedly. It seemed like he could not remember the last time he and his husband had spent a night at home together. The month after their vacation they both had been busier than ever. Even now, Seto was reading files, not watching TV. But they were in the same room, and later, they’d be sleeping in the same bed, and that was an improvement over the last few weeks.

The living room door opened.

“Nii-sama, Nii-chan?” Mokuba and another guy came in. “You guys got a minute? I want you to meet someone.”

“What the hell!” Seto stood up slowly, staring at his brother’s guest. The documents he was reading slipped from his hands as if he’d forgotten he was holding them.

“This is Kaiba Noa-niisan, our elder brother. Noa, this is Seto-niisama. Kat-niichan is Seto-niisama’s wife.”

The guy looked terrified, Katsuya thought. Terrified and too young to be an ‘elder’ brother. And to judge by Seto’s expression, this was a bigger deal than Mokuba was letting on.

“I am honored.” Noa bowed.

“Mokuba,” Seto looked flat out shocked. “How is he - how is this possible?”

“Here.” The youngest Kaiba handed the exec a USB drive. “The Noa Project was a lot more fucked up than you thought.”

“How so?”

“Noa’s Beta, not brain dead.”

Seto looked horrified.

“We’re going up to my room.” Mokuba took the nervous man’s hand and left the den.

Seto stood still, silent, staring at the vacant doorway.

“Otto-sama?” Kat crossed the room to his spouse. Seto did not shock easily. Or at all. “Who was that guy?”

Seto opened his mouth, but didn’t speak. Slowly, he looked at the thumb drive his brother handed him.

Then abruptly he was moving, shoving things off the table and pulling his laptop forward.

There were several folders on the drive, but Seto went straight to the one label ‘Noa Project’. Kat watched over Seto’s shoulder as he scrolled through the list of documents. He opened one, scanned through what looked like a science textbook to Kat, then opened another and scanned it. He opened a third. Then a fourth.

When Seto selected a whole page of files to open, Katsuya hit the power button.

“DAMN IT, YOU IGNORANT MUTT!” His husband roared.

Katsuya had rarely seen Seto flip out before, but his father’s few drunken rages had started the same way. Something internal was killing him. The only way to purge it was to let them get it out.

“Tell me who he is?!”

Seto rolled his eyes. “Mokuba just told you who he is! Imbecile! Or do you not understand the dangers presented by Gozaburo’s only acknowledged biological child?”

“Gozaburo’s only…?” That did confuse Katsuya. “Wait, isn’t he your dad?”

Seto scoffed. “That lout? Hardly. Mokuba and I were secretly adopted. If I ever discover I share DNA with that barbarian, I’ll fling myself out of a window.”

“No.”

“Irrelevant,” his husband huffed. “What matters is that of all the children I suspect he fathered, only one was included on the Kaiba koseki. Even Roland was passed over. He’s Beta? Then why claim him at all? Mokuba was adopted to replace the dying, brain damaged golden Alpha child! SO WHY IS HE WALKING AROUND MY HOUSE?!”

“Ok.” Katsuya tried to remain calm. Seto was squinting; a clear sign he was under too much stress. “Be cool. He was sick, he got better. That’s a good thing.”

Seto pinched the bridge of his nose. “I will explain this slowly. Gozaburo maintained Kaiba as an Alpha house. He did not claim any child until it was determined Alpha regardless of how intelligent they were.”

“He claimed you.”

“Mokuba and I gave him no choice. The man wasn’t a complete fool. Mokuba is the perfect child - especially for the House of Kaiba - and my brother would have made Gozaburo’s life a living hell without me.” Seto glowered darkly. “But he never allowed me to forget that everything my brother has is contingent on Noa never recovering and reclaiming his position. Not Alpha? Not brain damaged? Then what was he spending almost ten billion per year on?”

“Yeah, but you own everything, so just lock him out.”

“I control Mokuba and Noa’s proxies. You do know that I personally have virtually nothing. Apart from a few personal savings and some small investments, I am merely a stand in for my brother. Brothers. My guardian left me ¥1,000 and one share of stock. The entire rest of his estate goes to either Noa or Mokuba at the age of 20 plus one day, whomever is the elder surviving Alpha son.”

“That’s not -”

“He wanted me to fail, Katsuya! He set up traps to make me expose myself. Do you know the only compliment he gave me? When people would comment on my intelligence or abilities, he would smile and say, ‘and he’s pretty enough to be an omega.’ I think he was looking forward to making me his toy.” Seto huffed. “All of that is irrelevant. Ten years ago, Noa sustained a debilitating brain injury in a car crash that also killed his mother. The Noa Project is a medical research entity specifically charged with keeping Noa’s body alive while they found a way to repair his brain. It is the single largest line item in the KaibaCorp annual budget. Hundreds of billions of yen, Katsuya. Did he look like a debilitated car crash survivor?”

“Well...no.” The guy looked a bit drugged, but not like his head had been stitched up. “But then, if all that money -”

“Ten years. He has been in medical care for a decade. Did he look thin as if from a mostly liquid diet and no exercise?” Kat had to admit the guy looked pretty good. “So then why did Gozaburo spend billions upon billions of yen to create a medical fiction to hide a healthy child who is not an Alpha?”

“Otto-sama, I don’t know. I don’t think we can ever -”

“They were trying to make him an Alpha.”

“...wait...what?”

“I’ll have to read more to fully understand what they thought they could accomplish, but from what I’ve read so far, a father and a team of medical professionals took a nine-year-old boy, and over a decade subjected him to drug therapies and surgery with the intent of changing his gender.”

Katsuya stared at Seto. The idea - being able to change gender - was his personal dream. But you don’t perform medical experiments on children.

“You only glanced at that stuff. Maybe you misread -”

“Tsuma, darling, at last check my reading speed was 1,750 words per minute. It made me a bit slow for competition, but that was offset by my 80% comprehension. I assure you, I did not misread anything. What was done to him - if what Mokuba has given me is correct - was inhumane. But I will not allow anyone to usurp what I built for my brother. I need to understand what was done.” Seto turned on the monitor again.

Then he stopped. “Tsuma, darling. Would you like to assist me?”

Seto never asked for help. Not from his wife.

“Of course, Otto-sama.” Katsuya smiled. “What do you need me to do?”

“Go talk to him. Find out if he is who he says he is and what he wants.”

“...oh.”

“I don’t mean to interrogate him. Security, I’m sure, has verified the facts. But people like you. They trust you. If he is an agent of Gozaburo’s revenge, you’ll spot it. But if he is simply another child who was abused by that monster, he needs someone he can trust. Would you be that for me?”

If he was thinking about the kid’s needs, then he was calm. And Seto calm could solve any problem in the world.

“I could. But it’ll cost you.”

Seto frowned. “Cost what?”

Kat planted a light kiss on unhappy lips. “Idiot. You keep frowning like that, I’m gonna raise the price.”

His husband seemed to smile despite himself. “Do you understand the seriousness of any of this?”

“Do you understand that freaking out and screaming at people won’t help you solve it?” He stole another kiss.

“When did you become the voice of reason?”

“See? You should actually listen to me more often.”

“Humph. I’ll consider it.” Seto kissed his cheek. “You should go. Even for me, this will take time to review.”

“Ok. Wait, one last thing. Did you say that Roland is your brother?”

“Half brother through adoption. Gozaburo’s child through a German omega. I offered him the family name; he threatened to resign.”

“Wow, that’s kinda deep.”


	7. Chapter 7

“It’s a stupid rule!” Mokuba snapped. “Let’s just change it!”

“We will. Just as soon as your age cannot be used against you,” Seto tempered. The stress of the discussion was upsetting his stomach again.

“Oh come on! We have the votes. Why not just do it?”

“The broader outline, brother. Yes, the rule that only Alphas from the family may serve on the board appears to be a restriction. We could strike one word and allow all family members to join the corporate board.”

“Works for me.”

“Then Legal and Tech - who knew Gozaburo in high school - will magically find any number of illegitimate children who would then be eligible to join the board with Noa. And on what grounds do we exclude them?”

“Cause they won’t be his kids,” Mokuba scoffed. “DNA the bitches and -” His expression changed “- oh - shit.”

Seto nodded. “They won’t be, but neither will we. And since there is no record of our adoption, we can be removed from the family as easily as we were put there. And then you, not being his son, have no rights to the trust. It will all fall under the protective custody of court appointed trustees. And I have no doubt that our dear friends on the board would do their utmost to assist. I do not believe Noa has the knowledge or skill to protect himself from this board.”

“Not even close.”

“That Alpha rule also protects us, you realize. It means that they cannot oust us, name any half-related, half-wit to the board and steal the company from you. They need you, and until you turn 20, they need me.”

“Yeah, I get it. But I just want them out!”

“I want to wait until you have finished high school at least. Then when you can be emancipated and declared an adult, there will be no question of the rule change being done to steal your inheritance.”

“You wouldn’t do that, big bro,” Mokuba smiled.

“But that is exactly what I would target if I wanted to remove me. So. At tomorrow’s board meeting, I will formally announce Noa’s determination and his exclusion from the board. When I neglect to mention Noa’s shares, Legal I’m sure will point out the oversight. I will suggest that they be re-absorbed into your share, then I will suggest they be given to me - both suggestions will be voted down, of course. Then either Ops or Finance will complain that they are too busy for this nonsense and suggest the shares be evenly split.”

“Why can’t we keep them?”

“Because it will again appear to be a power grab by me.”

“But if those shares are split evenly, it’s gonna be 50/50, us versus them.”

“Yes, but remember ‘them’ includes Roland, and he typically votes with us. I am ending the discussion about Noa with that. Any discussion about the koseki or the trust are family matters so long as I am here.”

There was a light tap on the door. Mokuba jumped for it, grinning.

“Who’s there?” he asked.

There was a slight pause. “This is Kaiba Noa.” Seto could only just hear him.

“Sorry, can’t hear you,” Mokuba teased. “Must not be anyone there.”

“This is Kaiba Noa!” he repeated louder.

“Oh!” Mokuba seemed to be enjoying himself. “Who’s that?”

“Moke-niisan!”

It had been hardly three weeks since his abrupt introduction, but Noa had become a part of his brother’s life like nothing else. The fragile boy was physically older than Seto, but mentally younger than Mokuba. The young Alpha seemed utterly charmed.

Mokuba had discovered Noa completely by accident. A school field trip when he returned from Egypt had taken him to Ibaraki Prefecture, and a map search of the area had revealed a KaibaCorp facility nearby. Curious, Mokuba and his team ditched the school group and went to the address. They were not expecting a small house and garden, or to find Watanabe Noriko, a long retired Kaiba security officer, raising Gozaburo’s ‘mentally challenged’ son.

A little research into classified corporate data convinced Mokuba to go back to the house. Learning about the true purpose of the ‘medications’ she’d given Noa had broken Watanabe’s heart.

But the boy loved the woman and called his Aunt Noriko daily. He had been terrified of leaving the countryside when Mokuba first suggested it. But the youngest brother convinced him that the best way to learn if he was ‘mentally challenged’ or not was to challenge himself mentally.

Which Mokuba seemed to enjoy doing. The first two weeks had been spent breaking past the boy’s shyness, insecurities, and actual fear of strangers. Katsuya had been a huge help with that. Now Mokuba was aiming to make Noa more assertive. More Kaiba.

And it seemed to be working. Today, Noa had come from home to the office with only Shinko the bodyguard to drive him.

“Good afternoon, Onii-sama.” Noa bowed formally. “You wanted to see me today?”

Seto smiled. It was hard not to like the boy. “I did, and you are perfectly on time. That is very responsible of you. An excellent trait. Sit down. How is school?”

“It’s fun.” Noa began describing the teachers and other students in detail that Mokuba never bothered to note.

Nothing could be done about the few surgical changes made to his genitals and brain, but the discontinuation of the drugs had made dramatic changes.

Watanabe had been scrupulous about the pills because a missed dosage sent him into fits and convulsions. Mokuba’s team made the insane choice to treat the fits as withdrawal symptoms rather than life-threatening seizures requiring medical attention. They were lucky they had been more or less right.

Without the drugs, Noa was slow but clever. Abstract concepts seemed to elude him but he was able to find practical solutions to even complex physical puzzles in minutes. He wasn’t stupid, just under educated. Seto and Mokuba were hoping to change that as quickly as possible.

However neither his intelligence nor the affection both brothers were developing for the boy had anything to do with the board decision.

“That all sounds fine,” Seto said after letting Noa chatter on for a while. “Brother, I need to discuss something serious with you. Sit down.”

“Oh.” His expression fell as he sat. “Yes, Onii-sama.”

“Now first of all, I want you to know that you are our brother and you will always have a home with us.”

“Are you sending me away?!” The boy panicked.

“No!” Mokuba sat beside him and took his hands. “I promise! If anyone sends you away, they have to send me away, too!”

“But you’re an awesome. They don’t send away awesomes.”

“I don’t care! You don’t go anywhere without me, ok?”

“But -”

“Just say ok, ok?”

Noa nodded. “Ok, Moke-nii.”

Seto watched the exchange, surprised and intrigued. Mokuba rarely noticed other people and never showed any true empathy. His response to Noa was worth looking into.

But later. “An awesome?” Seto asked.

“Some Alpha bullies,” Mokuba explained. “They used to call him boring beta.”

Awesome Alpha, boring beta. Seto nodded. “Leaves one to wonder what an omega is.”

“They don’t count,” Noa replied. “Ueda-sempai said omegas are nothing.”

“I see.” The words hurt more than Seto expected, but he tried not to react. “Do you believe omegas are nothing?”

“They can’t be nothing,” Noa considered his answer, “because they’re people. That’s something already.”

So sweet. So simple and pure. Seto honestly thought he might cry.

“O.M.G.” Mokuba put his hand over his face. “Cutest words ever spoken on the planet.”

“Kat-niichan is omega, isn’t he?” Noa seemed oblivious to their responses. “He’s - he’s - he’s outstanding! Outstanding omegas!”

“Breathtaking,” Mokuba sighed. “Breathtaking Betas.”

Mokuba showed all the signs of a boy falling in love.

“He certainly seems to be.” Seto chuckled to himself. “But we are getting side tracked.” He turned serious again. “Noa, we will not send you away, but this does have to do with you being Beta and KaibaCorp. There is a company rule that prevents you from being on the board of directors. Do you know what that means?”

Noa thought about it. “Directors tell people which way to go….”

“And in this case, ‘board’ means a group of people.” Seto added.

“....so this would be a group of people who tell the company where to go. And it doesn’t allow Betas.”

“No,” Mokuba scoffed, “it doesn’t allow -”

“It’s ok,” Noa cut him off. “I don’t know what the company does, so I shouldn’t tell it where to go.”

“You don’t have to know -”

Seto spoke over his younger brother. “I’m glad you understand. I want to make sure you understand as well that this rule has nothing to do with our family, but other people might try to make it seem like the same thing.”

Noa considered it. “Auntie Noriko used to say that rice needs the bowl, but rice is not the bowl. The company needs the family, but the company is not the family. Yes?”

“Perhaps Ueda meant to say Brilliant Beta?” Seto smiled. “That is it precisely.”

“Anybody who doesn’t think you’re Kaiba has rice in his head!” Mokuba hugged Noa briefly, then jumped up. “Hey! You wanna go see the playtest lounge? All the new stuff is there! Come on!”

“Ok! Oh - but - Onii-sama, do you -”

“Go, go! I’m finished. I’ll see you both at dinner.”

Mokuba in love, Seto thought as they left. The idea gave him a warm pleasant feeling in his stomach. He had no problems with the relationship, although a Beta spouse would leave Mokuba in the same situation as Seto - they will both need to find reproductive partners other than their spouses.

Still, a small price to pay for the joy of having the right person beside you.

He sighed. Jou was shooting the new Kawai catalogue, so he hadn’t seen his beloved Tsuma in five whole days. He sent a text, snickering as he added a kitty sticker and a giant kiss.

Then, he called Roland. “Does the cafeteria have curry?”

“Curry?” His secretary repeated.

“I must have eaten lunch early. Or perhaps a smaller portion than usual. But I’m feeling a bit peckish and I thought a spicy shrimp curry would do nicely.”

Roland was silent for a moment. “I’ll see what I can find,” he replied finally.


	8. Chapter 8

Katsuya eyed his reflection as he hurried past a mirror in the hotel hallway. The old lady let him keep a suit so he didn’t have to go home and change. He came straight from the airport.

Roland had told him that he was always listed as Seto’s plus one for all the receptions and whatevers, but Kat rarely went. They tended to be boring and pretentious.

But this was different. This was urgent.

Seto had not called or texted in three days. Three days. When they were dating, barely three hours went by without contact. If Roland hadn’t given him the standard not-reassuring BS - he’s unavailable, he’ll return your call shortly, he’s in a meeting - Katsuya would have worried Seto was dead.

But this gala was in all the papers, and if Seto no-showed, that would be in all the papers. If Seto has a new boyfriend, Kat figured this was the place to meet him.

It took a few minutes to find his husband. He was surrounded by a pack of Alphas. Normally, Seto would have avoided all four of the men around him, but Katsuya watched as one of them gave him a fresh drink. Seto smiled while taking it.

He tried not to snarl as he approached the group.

“OTTO-SAMA!” He shouted as he flung his arms around Seto’s neck. He felt the drink splash. The old lady would probably have a fit.

Seto smelled amazing, Kat thought. No wonder the dogs were circling.

Seto shoved him away. “Jounouchi! A bit of decorum, please. Have you met these gentlemen?” He went on with introductions that Kat ignored.

Even before they got married, Seto never called him ‘Jounouchi’. He stopped using ‘Jou’ when they Bonded. And he looked odd. Too pale, with dark eye circles he was trying to hide with makeup.

Seto stopped talking and looked expectant. “...yeah, uh, hi. Otto-sama, can we talk a minute?”

“Of course. Later. Von Schroeder was just going to tell us about his new lover.” They all laughed at what was apparently a joke. “Be a good tsuma, and go get me another drink.” Seto polished off the one in his hand and smiled.

His lips were smiling, but the rest of his face was all wrong. His eyes were flat. Like the fire had gone out.

“Otto-sama,” Katsuya tried to be calm, but alarms were going off in his head. “I really missed you. Can’t we go talk for one eency-weency minute?”

“Ah, the joy of an omega bride,” one of the men leered.

Usually a comment like that would have Seto in an outrage. This time he laughed with them.

Kat moved in close, and whispered in his husband’s ear, “I ain’t playin’. Talk in private, or talk here.”

“Well! That does change one’s perspective.” Seto cleared his throat. “Gentlemen, forgive us. We will have to continue this later.”

Seto slipped his arm around Katsuya’s back, and guided his wife through the gala to an empty hallway.

He removed his arm. “This is as private as we are likely to get at the moment,” he snapped coldly. “What did you need?”

“What did I need?” Kat grabbed his husband’s arm roughly. “You dodge me for three days, and then I find you showin’ your ass like you’re in heat?”

Seto’s laugh was hollow. “Oh, I assure you. I am not in heat.” He yanked his arm away.

“Yeah? You smell like it!”

“My. Jealousy becomes you. Pity this isn’t the time or place.”

“Otto-sama, I’m not jealous, I’m worried! None of this is like you.”

“What’s not like me? Aren’t I the cold, ruthless, Alpha everyone loves to hate? Don’t I make heartless decisions and then order a glass of wine in the next heartbeat?”

“Huh?” The alarms in Katsuya’s mind seemed to get louder. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing. I am talking about nothing. What did you need to say? I still need to be seen by these idiots.”

“I’ve just been worried. You’re usually in touch more.”

Seto’s icy mask cracked. “What could I say?” His eyes teared up.

“Ok, I’m sorry!” Katsuya stepped in close and tried to wipe the tears without smearing the eye makeup. “I’m sorry! Look, I don’t know what you don’t want to tell me, but it’s ok. It doesn’t matter, we’ll deal. But don’t cry. Please don’t cry!”

Seto took a deep breath and stepped back. “I won’t. Alpha’s are not given to tears. While you were gone, I received some information, and acted without consulting you. It was somewhat time sensitive, so I thought it best not to wait.”

“You never ask me.” Kat shrugged. “It’s cool. I trust you. I’m sure your decision’s fine.”

“Decision?” Seto hissed. “I did not make a decision. There was no choice to make.” His volume started to creep up. “I had one option. And telling you before I did it would have simply complicated our lives beyond measure! It’s DONE! ACCEPT IT AND MOVE ON!”

“Okokokokok!” Katsuya held his husband’s shoulders. “You’re right! I believe you! Otto-sama, you did the right thing!”

Seto stared at him.

“I did,” he whispered finally

“You always do the right thing.”

“Yes,” Seto looked away. “Yes, I do.”

When they got home, Katsuya found the brochure in their private bathroom.

_Risks and Possible Side Effects of Your Omega Abortion._

It outlined the choice of processes and the related after effects. The statistical failure rates. The common emotional reactions. The cramps, discharges and nausea.

There was a follow up appointment scheduled.


	9. Chapter 9

“Unacceptable,” Seto huffed, handing the contract back to Roland. “If they cannot bring the price down 2/10th per unit, call that German supplier. I’d rather go overseas than be gouged that shamelessly. Tashi, what are you doing? You said adjust the waist, not design a new pair of pants.”

“Forgive me, sir,” the valet sighed. “May I suggest the grey wool? The fabric has more give.”

Seto and Roland exchanged a look.

“Fine,” Seto snapped. “Get it.” He waited until the servant left. “How long does it take for the damn uterus to disintegrate or discharge or however it goes away?!” he hissed.

“Not the uterus, the lining is re-absorbed. It’s been a week, Kaiba-sama,” Roland whispered back. “It takes as long as it takes.”

“How long for you?”

Roland stiffened. “I don’t remember.”

Tashi returned with the other suit, and Seto dressed.

He still felt off, but they told him it may be some time before he felt ‘normal’. His appetite came and went. He set meal times and ate the set portion whether he wanted it or not. Curry was his new favorite dish. He refused to eat it; he refused to accept he might still be having cravings.

The trip to the office was uneventful, and his morning passed slowly. Management was the never-ending process of convincing everyone to do what no one wants done. And generate massive amounts of paper while doing it. It was easily the most boring part of any day.

For the first time ever he almost appreciated Gozaburo. Thanks to him, Seto had learned to ignore his personal traumas while working. Far more efficient than being upset over things that hurt. Or cannot change.

Alphas males do not give birth.

His phone buzzed. “Kaiba-sama?” Roland called. “Your wife is here. And as a reminder, we have an off-site meeting for which we must leave in ten minutes.

“I am aware. Thank you, send him in.”

Seto moved to give Katsuya a brief hug and kiss. Touching his spouse still felt awkward, but that too would eventually become ‘normal’ again.

“I’m sorry we won’t have more time, Tsuma darling. You should have called.”

“No worries. I just wanted to see you.” His wife took a deep breath.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m just…. Is it ok to talk - you and me talk - in here?”

“Of course.”

“Ok. Look, when you first said marriage, I was pretty unsure. I mean I didn’t want this to be just about a bite, you know?”

Seto nodded. “My fascination with you started before that moment. But I understand your concern.”

“I never wanted to do the bonding thing because how do you know it’s real? I don’t want to be with anyone if it’s not real.”

“And how do you know what is real?”

“Well. For a start, you share everything. Good and bad. My mom was never there for my dad. I need to be there for you.”

“Of course. I know you are here if I need you. I hope you depend on me, too.” Seto kissed his cheek. “Now, unfortunately, I have -”

“Stop. Seto, I’m going with you today.”

Seto felt himself freeze. Then he tried to smile and act unconcerned. “Going? Today? This is just a -”

“Today’s your follow-up to the abortion,” Katsuya said it calmly, simply, but it sounded like an accusation. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for the first appointment, but I want to be with you today.”

“No.”

“What?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“It’s unnecessary. A routine physical, a simple blood test.”

“Otto-sama, if we are real, then I need to be there. Please don’t push me out of this.”

Alphas don’t cry, Seto reminded himself. Alphas do not shed tears and there is no emotion involved in a logical medical treatment.

“Fine,” he said shortly.

He turned off his computer and filed some papers.

“Kaiba-sama, Kaiba-chan,” Roland entered carrying a small shoulder bag. “Forgive my interruption, but we should be going now.”

“Katsuya will be going with us.” Seto tried to keep the tremor out of his voice.

He kept a firm hold on his nerves as Tamora drove them to a park with a public restroom.

“Wait here,” he told his wife.

The clinic was on the far side of town. They accepted both public and private insurance, if you don’t mind paperwork.

Or, for cash payment in full, they ask no questions.

Seto changed clothes. A plain blue dress. A curly black wig.

When they got in the car again, Kat looked surprised, but didn’t comment.

After enough sidelong glances and hastily masked grins, Seto huffed. “What?”

His wife played innocent. “What?”

“You’ve been sitting there smirking. You needn’t tell me I look ridiculous.”

“Didn’t say a word.”

“You want to. Stop smirking.”

“I’m not.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“You don’t look ridiculous. You look cute.”

Seto’s face burned. “I most certainly do not!” Roland cleared his throat and Tamora coughed. “I have adopted this disguise to ensure anonymity. You are cute. I am handsome.”

“Ok,” Katsuya agreed.

But Seto noticed he continued to grin and peek.

He felt his mood soar. Suddenly, the weight of the last two weeks was lifted. The dreaded feel of the coming appointment was gone. His wife thought he was cute. Seto didn’t want to be complemented by that, but truthfully, he was thrilled.

They would have children eventually. When Mokuba was older, and the corporation more stable. When he and Katsuya could run away to a private island and have a thousand little ones running around.

Tamora parked the car. “Around the corner, three blocks west.”

“Would you prefer we wait here, Kaiba-sama?” Roland asked.

Seto looked at his wife and felt some of his earlier stress return.

Katsuya took his hand.

“It’s a simple physical.” Seto couldn’t help squeezing the hand. “I believe I can - we can handle this on our own.”

“Together.” Katsuya almost smiled. “Come on.”

It was a long walk, it seemed.

“Why come out to this place?”

“Roland recommended it.”

“What about your regular doctor?”

“I have some… concerns about information security in his office. There is little I can do if my information has already been compromised, but this is something I wish to keep truly personal.”

“And the outfit is so no one recognizes you by chance. Got it. Hold on.” Katsuya stopped in front of a store window where he could see his own reflection. He messed up his hair. Then he pulled a pair of dark glasses from his pocket and put them on. “Good?”

“Oh perfect,” Seto snarked. “You look nothing like Jou wearing sunglasses.”

“Yeah, but I’m exactly the kind of guy people think brings his girlfriends here.”

“And I’m your girlfriend?”

“No.” Katsuya took his hand again. “I’m yours, Otto-sama.”

They continued to hold hands as they arrived at the clinic. Seto checked in as ‘Yoma Ichi’ and they waited for the name to be called.

The nurse asked some standard questions, then drew some blood.

They waited again.

“Yoma-chan?” The doctor came in. “I’m afraid it failed.”

“Do you need another blood sample?” Seto asked.

“No, Yoma-chan, the procedure. It failed. We discussed the fact that omegas sometimes need to use two or more attempts to terminate a pregnancy.”

“Failed?” Seto and Katsuya looked at each other. “I’m still pregnant?”

“I’m afraid so. Are you Yoma-chan’s partner?”

“...huh? Oh, uh, yeah.”

She gave him an expectant look.

“Yoma-san,” Seto supplied smoothly. “Let’s discuss more radical, more secure methods. Removal of the womb and ovaries, for inst-”

“Whoa, whoa! Are you nuts?”

“It would ensure we never have a repeated incident.”

“Ot- uh - Se- uh - Sensei, could we have a couple minutes alone?”

“Of course. Leave the door open when you are ready for me to return.” She left quickly, closing the door behind her.

“Ok, Otto-sama, I know the whole kid thing is not good, but removing -”

“It is the only way to guarantee that we never have to go through this again. I thought you didn’t want children.”

“I didn’t, yeah, but - I mean, you want them, right?”

“Irrelevant.”

“Seriously relevant. Like the only relevant thing.”

“Tsuma, darling. I cannot have them. Not now. Maybe not ever.”

“What if you could?”

“How? Give me one scenario in which this is possible?”

“....uh…. What if we hid it?”

“Hid it? The child?”

“The pregnancy. We come up with something for a couple months, then we vanish, and came back and say it was me.”

It was a stupid idea. It couldn’t possibly work.

And yet all Seto could think was…

...I’m going to have a baby.


	10. Chapter 10

Tashi had already guessed. He agreed to do as much as he could for as long as possible.

Katsuya pulled back from all modeling except Kawai. He asked the kitchen staff to serve himself and Seto a special cleansing diet.

The family accepted Kat’s vague explanations for almost two weeks before Mokuba casually asked over dinner.

“So, Nii-chan. Are you gonna tell us you and Nii-sama are having a baby, or what?”

Seto nearly choked. Kat looked wildly around the room. Almost everyone else looked surprised, but Roland and Tamora were snickering.

“...uh yeah.” Katsuya cleared his throat. “So, uh, we, uh…”

“Kat-niichan is pregnant?” Noa all but bounced in his seat. “Auntie will be so excited! May I go call her now?”

“She won’t be the only one,” Honda added. “Yugi and your grandmother are both gonna flip.”

Seto pulled himself together. “We wanted to wait until we were sure before notifying anyone - including family.”

“Are you sure yet?” Mokuba was looking at Seto, not Katsuya.

“We are - cautiously optimistic. But we would still prefer to restrict the number of people who know. Noa, I’m afraid we must wait a bit before telling Watanabe, but will you help us keep the secret a bit longer?”

“Of course, Nii-sama!”

The next morning, Tashi was at Katsuya’s door shortly after Seto left for the office. He had a box with him.

“Please forgive my intrusion, Kaiba-chan. May I speak with you,” he looked pointedly at Honda, “in private?”

“Honda’s cool - oh, wait. You wanna… right. Uh, Honda, you mind?”

“I’m hitting the kitchen. You want anything you can have?”

“Coffee?”

“Tea, sure.” Honda left.

Kat turned to the valet. “What’s up?”

The man looked at the floor. “I wish to directly defy Kaiba-sama, and I need your assistance.”

“Directly defy him? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just quit?”

“Sir, Kaiba-sama wishes to keep his - or rather ‘your’ condition secret, however, there are only so many tricks one can use before -”

“Before he looks like an olive on a toothpick. What did you want to do?”

“The intent is for you to appear with child, therefore we should move the rumors to you before people begin to see the signs in him.”

“OK, how?”

“I need to purchase a few things for Kaiba-sama. I will pass two or three maternity shops along the way, and if you wanted to stop and perhaps try on a garment or two in each, I would certainly be willing to give you my humble opinions.”

You don’t have to be prego to look at maternity stuff, Kat thought. But it does make people suspect you’re prego. He nodded slowly.

“You know, I would love to try on one of those ‘baby on board’ shirts.”

“Thank you, sir. Please undress.” Tashi locked the bedroom door and began opening the box he brought.

“Undress?”

The valet pulled out a fake belly. “This should give you a silhouette that is two centimeters larger than Kaiba-sama. I have taken the liberty of ordering a full array of these up to 42 centimeters. However large Kaiba-sama is at any time, you will be larger.”

A shiver went down Katsuya’s spine as Tashi helped him affix the silicone belly. It made his regular pants too tight. The way Seto’s must have been for weeks. Under his shirt, it almost felt real. Looking in the mirror, he stroked it. His ‘baby bump’.

To be omega. To be able to have one for real. Having kids used to sound like torture to Katsuya. Now, looking at himself like this, he felt a lump in his throat.

“What about the chest?” he asked. Seto’s chest hadn’t swelled much, but it was tender.

Tashi tilted his head thoughtfully. “Kaiba-sama has not had much development in his -”

“Not for him, for me.” Kat grinned. “We got pictures of my dad. When he had me, his tits blew up!”

“Very well. I will order several sizes of breasts as well.”

The door jiggled. “Should I come back?” Honda called out.

Katsuya pulled his shirt down and opened the door. “Sorry. Tashi-san kinda read me the riot act. I kinda gotta take this planning stuff seriously. Nine months really isn’t all that long.”

“Good job, Tashi-san,” Honda chuckled. “I take it that means we are not spending the day binge watching Gundam.”

“Nope. I gotta do some shopping before my jeans actually cut off my circulation. Tashi-san knows some places.”

Shopping was more fun than Katsuya ever dreamed it could be. It never occurred to him how much went into a fully loaded nursery. And it was all so cute. Cute baby clothes, cute baby furniture, cute baby accessories, and cute maternity wear.

He exchanged his jeans and t-shirt for a cute green dress with an empire waist.

“The trick of this design,” Tashi told him, “is that everyone looks pregnant in it. Is the prosthetic slipping?”

“No. Why?”

“You seem to be holding it in place.”

“Oh. No. Pregnant people touch their stomachs a lot. I’ve been seeing it all morning, so I’m trying to copy it.”

Over lunch, Kat’s phone buzzed.

 **Meetings are boring. Want to be in bed with you. Come see me before 5pm.** There were four kissing faces.

“You got any more shops we need to hit?” he asked Tashi.

“Two. However, I am at your disposal, Kaiba-chan.”

“Seto wants me to go by the office, but later. I’m having fun hanging with you.”

“You know as soon as this gets out, I’m telling our whole high school class. You used to act like you’d rather jump off a cliff than get knocked up!” Honda chuckled.

“Yeah, yeah. Yug’ will get revenge for everything I said while he was a beach ball.”

“Have you met Yugi, Tashi?” Honda laughed. “He’s like this tall. When he got pregnant, he must have been almost as wide, too!”

“Yeah, at least I won’t look like that. I’ll probably look like my dad.”

“Do you have any pictures?” Tashi asked casually.

“Of Dad? Not on me. The old man did a full naked nine month spread.” Then Katsuya realized why he would ask. “There’s a poster at the Kawai offices. I’ll check when I get home, see if I have a copy of the book.”

At the last store, Kat was recognized by two squealing teenage girls.

“Shh! Yeah, it’s me.” He grinned. “Look, I’m playing hooky today, so I’m not supposed to be out at all, right? I tell you what - I’ll do a selfie with you, but you gotta promise that you won’t post it today, ok?” They both promised.

He snickered as the girls walked away with their prized photos.

“What?” Honda asked.

“Those photos will be posted to LINE before we get home. Seto’s gonna blow a blood vessel.”

They finished their errands, and Katsuya had Honda drop him off at the KaibaCorp office. He flashed his ID at security and took the express elevator up to the executive suite.

In the mirrored walls, he looked at ‘his’ belly again. He looked pretty cute pregnant. It was heartbreaking that it wasn’t real.

Roland stared at him as he arrived.

“How do I look?” Katsuya executed a runway turn.

“Does he know about this?”

“Nope.” Kat grinned and walked into Seto’s office. “OTTO-SAMA!” He disregarded the meeting and flung his arms around Seto’s neck.

“Katsuya! What on earth are you do - what - what is -” Seto’s hand caressed the belly. “Tsuma, darling, what are you wearing?”

“A new dress.” He twirled again. “Like it?”

“It’s… new.”

“Kaiba!” One of the men in suits laughed. “Don’t be so mean. He’s adorable. Are congratulations in order?”

“Are you saying I’m so fat I look pregnant?” The man sputtered and Katsuya snickered. “Empire waists make everyone look pregnant, but it was cute and on sale, and I wanted something different.”

“It’s certainly that,” Seto agreed. “Now, we need to finish, so be a good wife and wait quietly.”

“Yes, Otto-sama.” Kat kissed his cheek. “I will pretend to be obedient at your office.”

“Wish mine would pretend,” one of the other men sighed. They all laughed.

Since they were meeting at the conference table, Katsuya sat at Seto’s desk. He had a guest login on the computer, so he looked up the belly company. Faking a pregnancy wasn’t that uncommon, apparently. Maybe Seto could go overseas, and I could wear the cute clothes, and have the big belly. Maybe I could be the mommy, he thought.

He watched Seto for a while. His poor husband didn’t want this, not really. Too bad the Noa Project didn’t work. Life would be perfect if they could flip genders.


	11. Chapter 11

“The blue?” Marketing asked. “Or the pink? Kaiba-san?”

Seto looked at the files in front of him. They were green and grey. “Excuse me?”

“Do you prefer the green or the grey color palette for the web page?” the man repeated. 

“Ah.” Seto glanced at his desk. At his visibly pregnant wife playing on the computer.

How was that even possible?

“When my wife got pregnant the second time,” one of the reps from the other company leaned in closer, “she didn’t tell me until she was almost five months.”

“You didn’t notice?”

The man chuckled. “My wife doesn’t have Kaiba-chan’s figure.” They all snickered. “You should have some clue, Kaiba-san. Is he sick in the morning?”

“Any time,” Marketing countered. “My partner threw up constantly. He needed nausea medication and liquids.”

“No,” Seto answered. That had been fortunate. “Nothing of the sort.”

“But didn’t you say over lunch that your new cleansing diet was your wife’s idea?”

“Well, yes, but -”

“No caffeine, no alcohol, nothing spicy?” The rep chortled. “Congratulations, ‘Dad’.”

“I’m sure he’s not -”

“Kaiba-san, it’s a good thing! You’ll have a little Alpha to carry on the family name. Frankly, some of us were beginning to wonder about the two of you.”

“Wonder?” That comment pulled Seto’s mind off babies instantly. “Wonder about what?”

“Well, you know,” Marketing lowered his voice even further. “There are those Alphas that want to be omegas, eh?” The others snorted, and Marketing waved away his own theory. “But you? Gozaburo’s son? Nah! You are the alpha Alpha, and you married the most stunning omega, and I hope you have a litter of little Alpha Kaiba pups!”

“Here, here!” They actually applauded, and Seto rolled his eyes, hoping his relief didn’t show.”

“If you all are quite finished planning my family for me?” He gave them a moment to look pleased with themselves. “Katsuya and I are quite busy with our individual schedules. A child now would be… inconvenient. Now. I believe the blue - the pink - the _green_ color palette more suits the product line.” He glanced at his watch. “Congratulations, gentlemen, you have succeeded in wasting our remaining time.”

The rep stood up, grinning. “I think we have what we need for now. Thank you for your time, Kaiba-san.”

“And you as well.” Seto nodded. “If you have any further directions for my personal life, please feel free to stop by.”

The man laughed. “I’ll stop! You sound like my son. Just don’t invite me to the 100days; my wife doesn’t need encouragement!”

“I wouldn’t hear of it. Yours will be the first invitation I hand deliver.”

As they were leaving the rep leaned in to Seto. “My son gained a bit in the waistline when his wife was pregnant, too.”

“What?” Seto wanted to be outraged, but the man just snickered as he left.

Roland entered immediately. “Any issues, Kaiba-sama?”

“Many.” Seto slammed the door shut. “Who’s idea was this?” He glared at both his wife and his secretary.

“I -” Roland started, but Katsuya cut him off.

“Tashi and I did it. Tashi suggested it, but I did it.”

“Do you realize that seeing you, like that, the whole building is probably gossiping.”

“About him,” Roland pointed out. “Not you, sir.”

“About both of us!” Seto snapped. “That lout had the nerve to suggest that I was gaining weight because he was with child!”

His wife grinned. “I look prego, don’t I?” He held the dress tight so it exaggerated the ‘bump’. “At all the shops, they kept asking when I was due.”

“All the shops?” Seto felt his blood pressure rising. “You’ve been running around in public like that?”

“Otto-sama, wait,” Katsuya came around the desk and touched his arm gently. “Everyone expects me to be pregnant, not you, right? So if you get fat, and I don’t then it’s weird. But if I’m fatter than you, then you just got a ‘dad bod’, right?”

“So we pretend you are the pregnant one? Really?”

“Sir,” Roland looked thoughtful. “This could be wise. As I recall, Gozaburo gained quite a bit of weight while Yoko-san was carrying Noa. Pregnant couples are often sleep deprived, which can lead to overeating.”

The idea was beginning to make sense. And, if it worked, it could buy Seto a bit more time before his stomach made the excuses laughable.

“What about your parents?”

“I’ll tell them we’re adopting from a surrogate, and I want to mirror her pregnancy. That’s what these things are for anyway.” He indicated the belly.

“What is that?” Seto asked. “It looks disturbingly real.”

“Silicone. I’ll show you at home. It kinda feels real.” Katsuya stroked it again.

It looked right, Seto thought. Katsuya was much better suited for childbearing.

“Hey!” Katsuya perked up. “We can give my parents the surrogate story, and when we’re ready to skip town, we tell them that mother’s on bed rest and we want to spend the last trimester with her.”

Roland nodded. “We tell everyone else that Kaiba-chan has had a health concern, and he is the one resting.

Seto thought about it. “Are you planning to crossdress the whole time?”

“I do it all the time for work,” Kat laughed. “Plus I promised the old lady I’d do her maternity line before she died.”

It could work. Expectation was a strong psychological force. Katsuya was a girlish omega. Seto was a doting and affectionate husband. Naturally he would gain a few pounds catering to his Tsuma darling’s needs.

And frankly, it wasn’t as if he had much choice. Camouflaging his belly would become impossible sooner rather than later. Justifying it was a more logical choice.

“Fine.” He nodded. “I will continue to deny it for another week or so. Then, I will be both chagrined and overjoyed to admit I was wrong. Do you have a change of clothes with you?”

“Yeah.” Katsuya looked dubious. “Why?”

“I have my first actual prenatal appointment this evening, and I’d like to wear that dress. It’s cuter than the one Roland bought.”

Roland huffed, rolled his eyes, and went about straightening the meeting space.

Katsuya pouted. “The dress is cute, or I’m cute?”

“You simply love hearing me tell you that, don’t you?” Seto pushed against him, feeling his wife’s ‘belly’ rub against his own.

“So?”

“So, maybe I’m tired of saying it.” Seto slipped his arms around Katsuya’s neck. Kat’s arms circled his waist. “Maybe I don’t think you’re cute anymore.”

“Oh, I’m cute.” Kat stole a kiss. “I’m damn cute.”

“I think you’re getting a bit thick in the middle. Do they still make girdles?”

“You think I’m thick now? Wait. Tashi-san’s getting me tits, too. I’m gonna be the best cow in the herd.”

“Cow in the herd?”

“Pregnant dirty talk.”

“A little too perverted for my taste, thank you. I like your chest as is.”

“Hmmm. Well, I guess I can’t argue with that.” Katsuya kissed him again. “But I think I’m becoming obsessed with this whole kid thing.”

“Are you?” Seto kissed him. “Maybe I should keep trying to give you one.”

“I’m good with that,” his wife purred.

“Shall I have Tamora bring your car around, sir?” Roland interjected loudly, surprising them both.

But Seto didn’t move. “Yes. My wife is looking a bit tired, so I think he should rest at the Hyatt before our evening plans.”

“Very well, sir.”

At the hotel, Seto fucked Kat with the belly on, then again in the shower with it off.

As they were dressing, Kat began studying his chest in the mirror. “Hey, Otto-sama? How would you feel about me nursing?”

Seto shrugged. “I hadn’t considered it, really. I certainly can’t. Frequent breaks to express milk would be rather a give-away, I should think.”

“I think I want to. Would that be ok?”

Seto moved behind him and cupped Katsuya’s pectorals. “I gather you have a plan? Hmm. I suppose a bit more flesh wouldn’t harm you.”

“Omegas with big tits make bank.”

“Not my omega.”

Katsuya turned around in his arms. “No, not yours.”

They made love once more before dressing - sans the belly - and taking a cab to the clinic.


	12. Chapter 12

“Do you want to explain these pictures on my desk of you shopping at BabyBarn?” Kawai demanded over the phone.

“Are you giving me a choice?” Kat asked. He knew this was inevitable.

“Cute. No.”

“Yeah. Ok, so it’s kinda involved, and we’re not trying to tell everybody, so the pics were kinda my fault.”

“Yes, that lack of common sense you got from your father.”

“Whatever. Look, just come over tonight and I’ll give you the whole story.” He hung up the phone.

“Your mother?” Seto asked, still reading his morning news alerts.

“Yeah. Pictures of me shopping made it to the web finally.”

“Very well. We’ll tell your family this week, and then we’ll make an official statement next week.” Seto kissed his cheek. “And I’ll admit it, I believe your plan is working. Once someone sees you, they are wholly focused on your stomach. I am going to be a complete laughing stock when I confess I had no idea.”

“Don’t say none, just you didn’t believe it. Too many people keep saying it for you to have no idea.”

“But you forget that the only assessment that matters is my own. I determined that you were not, so I was taken completely by surprise to learn that I was wrong.”

“Oh. Right. I forgot about your ego.”

“What are you telling your mother?”

“The surrogate. A woman in Sapporo who specializes in working with Alpha male couples. She was the best match, and I’m not ready to come out yet. I am gonna tell her about the lactation treatments, so that doesn’t freak her out later.”

“And your father?”

“Yeah….” Katsuya sighed. “I’ll go see him tomorrow. He’s the one I’m worried about figuring out the truth.”

“Honestly? He’s the only one I might trust with the truth.” He put his phone aside. “What are your plans today?”

“Annual book festival at the school today. I’m going over to recruit for the internship, and generally be hot.”

“You’ll come to the office after?”

“Depends. Am I gonna get to take a ‘nap’?”

A ‘nap’ had become their euphemism for sex during the day.

“You know, I am beginning to suspect something. They say pregnancy makes you insatiable.”

“In that case, you’ve been pregnant since I met you.” Kat straddled his husband, Seto’s belly adding new friction to their cocks rubbing together. “I’m so sick.” He lifted up and then impaled himself on the stiff rod. “Every time we do this, I feel like I’m having a three-way.”

Seto grabbed his hips and jabbed deeply. “That. Is. Sick.”

“Harder, baby! Fuck me so I can’t walk!”

Seto pushed him over, reversing their positions. He lifted Katsuya’s hips and began actually hammering into him.

Sex hadn’t changed much. Despite the bulge in his middle, Seto had remained fairly slender. Both of their drives had gone up, but that was just more of the same.

Which was not a bad thing. Four plus months, and Seto’s pregnancy was still a secret.

Katsuya was beginning to worry about one thing, however.

Tashi had ordered the full set of progressively larger bellies. And Kat wore them, in order, based on Seto’s actual week. Tashi had even calculated statistical averages, and based on Seto’s height and weight determined how large he should be at any given point, and made Katsuya two centimeters larger.

Two centimeters should be a slight difference.

But Katsuya was huge compared to his spouse. At their prenatal visit, the doctor had said he was low, but not underweight for 17-weeks along. So Kat being almost six centimeters bigger worked to their advantage. It made it look like Seto really was just gaining ‘sympathy weight’. 

‘Seto is not stupid’, he reminded himself. And he wouldn’t continue the pregnancy just to endanger the child through bad health. They were both fine, Kat told himself. They should both be fine.

At the book festival, Katsuya took pictures, signed autographs, and watched Mokuba persuade half the omegas in school to sign up for the internship.

Noa helped. Noa was two grades below his age-mates, but even that was amazing considering the boy hadn’t been to school in five years.

A lot of people asked the baby question. He just grinned and said ‘not as far as I know.”

He got to Seto’s office in time to run into Tamora in the hallway.

“...and I have not heard anything official.” The bodyguard was telling a pair of secretaries.

“Ooh! Office gossip!” Katsuya jumped in. “Tell me, tell me! What’s not official?”

“You.” One of the two giggled. “Everyone is dying to know.”

“Oh.” Kat sighed. “Well, let’s put it this way. If I’m not, on my next cycle, I’m chaining him to the bed.”

All three of them laughed, as Tamora huffed.

“Alpha men are the worst!” the second one complained. “They have no problem rutting for a week, but say you want to have a baby, and suddenly he has a headache!”

“Or a meeting, or something else lame!”

“Well, if you need help holding him down, call us!” They took their leave and moved on.

“You are enjoying this, aren’t you,” Tamora commented.

“Way too much,” Kat chuckled.

His mirth stopped when he opened Seto’s door. All three of his parents were with his spouse.

“Hey Dad,” he said as he kissed his husband’s cheek. “What are Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd doing here?”

“Allegedly, Kawai had some paperwork for the internship,” Seto explained. “But when I mentioned that you would be here shortly, they decided to wait.”

“I have to admit,” Kawai said casually, “that you do look a lot like your father. He’s very high, the way you were, Ren.”

“Funny. Yuki-chan said the same thing while we were looking at the pictures online.”

“Which is a rather odd thing for anyone to say about an Alpha male,” Mikail added.

“Ok, look, we didn’t say anything before because we weren’t sure about -”

“I’m pregnant,” Seto’s voice cut under his wife’s and caught everyone’s attention.

They were all silent for almost a full minute before his father nodded.

“Ok. Yeah. That makes a couple things make a lot more sense.”

“You knew?” his mother accused.

“I suspected. Let’s just say I can always tell which Alphas are going after Kat.” Dad shook his head. “This one didn’t make sense.”

“Wait,” Mikail looked confused. “So who actually runs KaibaCorp?”

“I do,” Seto replied.

“So you’re actually a woman?”

“The weak link in the chain.” Katsuya facepalmed. “You know he’s too dumb to keep this quiet, right?”

“The three of them have kept your determination secret from your grandparents for a number of years.” Seto seemed far too calm. “Given the chaos this would make of your life, I believe we can trust them.”

“So when you told me you were bonded,” Mom mused, “you meant you bit him.”

“Yeah,” Kat replied simply.

“And you got him pregnant.”

“Yeah.”

“How is this even possible?” Mikail looked genuinely confused. 

“He’s omega, Mik,” Dad clarified.

“He’s Kaiba. They set the legal precedent for Alpha only Families. I studied the case in my law class.”

“You see now why we have gone through such great lengths to hide my condition.”

Mikail muttered something in Russian. “Mother will not be kind.”

“We are not telling my mother!” Mom stated. “The five of us will fit in a shoebox if she ever finds out. Shit! Who else knows?”

“My brother. My intimate staff.”

Mom began pacing. “Making the world think Katsuya is pregnant works fine for you.”

“It actually works to Jou’s advantage,” Mikail pointed out. “Jou as a brand, at least.”

Mom nodded. “Yes, but Mother and Dad.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how to get around them.”

“For people who know that Katsuya is Alpha, we were initially intending to tell them that he was mirroring our surrogate,” Seto offered.

“Won’t work,” she sighed. “They don’t know he’s Alpha, and they ever find out, they’ll sue to make him Kawai.”

“I’m married.” Kat shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to them,” Dad said. “Always has. You being omega was the only reason I got to keep you.”

“Hate fuckin’ Alphas.” Kat rolled his eyes as he rubbed his belly. I hope you’re not…. That’s not a real kid, he reminded himself. Again.

“He is married,” Mom reasoned, “so they might not have a case. But they won’t care if your secret gets revealed in the process.”

“Very well,” Seto shrugged. “We tell them Katsuya is pregnant.”

“No,” Dad sighed.

“Mother and Father will both want to see him,” Mikail explained.

“We can visit.”

“No, they will want to 'see' him. Mother will want him to model the maternity collection, and she will want to take his measurements personally. Father will want a photo session. A nude session, as with Ren.”

“Oh, crap!” Katsuya suddenly realized the predicament. “Shit! The old man will freak if I vanish before he gets pictures.”

“Our only option at this point,” Mom sighed, “is to stall for time.”

“Could we distract them somehow?” Seto asked. “Is there something they could both be pulled into?”

“Bigger than Kat being pregnant?” Mom scoffed.

“What if I came out of retirement and wanted to do Paris this year?” Dad offered.

“That would distract me,” Mikail smirked, “but it would only hold Mother and Father for so long. This will be their first great grandchild.”

“Ren, would you really do that?” Mom almost looked like she actually cared.

Dad chuckled. “The real question is can I do it. I’m not 16 anymore.”

“Oh stop fishing!” She rolled her eyes. “You’re still drop dead gorgeous and you know it.” She looked at Seto. “Ok, boy or girl, and when do I become a grandmother?”

“I am 17-weeks. This afternoon I have a sonogram, hopefully we will learn the sex then.”


	13. Chapter 13

“Twins.” The doctor smiled. “Congratulations. I wasn’t sure if I was hearing two heartbeats, or an echo of yours, but this is baby boy Ichi,” she circled a pulsing organ on the screen, “and this is baby Ji, currently unknown, but we’ll watch for a few minutes.”

“Twins?” Seto stared at the screen as Katsuya’s arms tightened around him. “There must be some mistake.”

“You’ll be fine, Yoma-chan. A very large percentage of omegas carry multiples. Twins are common. Triples, and even quads often occur in Alpha/omega couples. Now. Let’s discuss your weight.”

“He’s underweight, right?” Katsuya asked.

Seto continued to stare at the two hearts beating on the monitor. Twins. He thought he was feeling too much movement, much too early. Twins. Twice the chance of the condition being discovered. Twice the resources, twice the expense, twice the time.

“Handsome?” Katsuya gave him a shake. “You still with us?”

“Yes.” Had he initially been carrying triplets? More?

“...pictures?”

Seto’s attention snapped back. “No. No pictures.”

“Hell yes, pictures!” Katsuya countered. “I want as many as we can have.”

“The sonogram is recorded. I can give you a copy.”

“Yes!” and “No!” warred with each other.

The doctor sighed. “I’ll give you a minute. Again.”

“Why not?” Kat asked as soon as the door closed.

“They are evidence of my condition!”

“Which people believe is my condition.”

“They’ll know.”

“They’ll know if you keep acting this irrationally! Otto-sama, it’s just pictures of the baby. Babies! Twins! I cannot wait to tell everyone!”

“This is a disaster.”

“No, it’s wonderful! We’re gonna have twice the love and twice the fun.” He turned serious. “But we are gonna have to get you out of town sooner rather than later. And you need to gain some weight.”

“My weight is fine. I am within statistical norms.”

“I didn’t think you were listening. You’re on the low end for a single birth. You’re under for twins.”

“I cannot gain any more weight. I am at the limit of what Tashi can hide now.”

“Which is why we need to get you out of town.”

“The plan isn’t properly in place yet. I need another month.”

“Otto-sama, you don’t have another month.”

“I am not ready!”

“Ok! Ok! So how do we get ready?”

“My initial plan was to go to Neuquen in Argentina. They normally have heavy snow fall from June to September, making them the perfect location to test some emergency communications equipment I’ve been working on.”

“September? But you’re due in -”

“Obviously I won’t deliver in Argentina! I’ll return to Japan, flying directly to Sapporo to continue the testing under more extreme conditions. But the prototypes aren’t ready!”

“Ok, how about this? You go up to view the sites for a couple days, and I’ll have a fit and insist on meeting you in Sapporo. Then I can have a complication, and have to stay, and you can insist on staying with me.”

The plan was stupefyingly obvious. He’d selected a village with little to no tech options both because it suited the test requirements, and because giving birth should be one of the lowest tech things possible. Cesarean births have been done literally since the time of Caesar, and the village he selected had a large population of omegas. A complication with pregnancy changed anyone’s plans, so it made sense that an unexpected situation could arise.

Especially with twins.

Seto took a breath and pulled himself together. “Yes. Yes, that should work. I’ll spend a few days analyzing details, then on Monday arrange site visits. Come to my office on Tuesday and ‘discover’ my trip. We’ll argue about it. Can you cry on cue?”

“You want me to go that far?”

“Pregnancy makes one tend to overreact emotionally. You will cry, and I will give in immediately.”

“And then when I collapse, you can be right.”

“Right, but loving and forgiving. I knew he should not have come, but now we can spend time together while he rests.”

“Actually, I really like this plan.” There was a tap on the door. “Oops. Forgot about her. I want sonogram pics, Otto-sama, please?”

Seto sighed. “Very well. You may not post them.”

“But - no, ok. Fine. No posting. Deal?”

“Accepted. We are ready, Sensei.”

She stepped into the room. “What did we decide?”

“We want the pics,” Katsuya replied.

“I suspected.” She handed the model a USB drive. “We usually take four freeze frames as well. OH!” She rushed the machine, and pushed a button. “Got them! Look! Ichi and Ji, twin boys.”

On the screen there was a hazy outline of two boys, back to back, hearts beating as one.


	14. Chapter 14

“He WHAT!” Honda yelled holding his ear. “Got him. On our way.”

Katsuya looked away from the interviewer. Even the studio audience was looking toward the shout. Honda was pretty good at the bodyguard role, so yelling like that on duty was not like him.

Honda was racing to him. On camera. “Kat!” He stopped abruptly. “Forgive me, Kaiba-chan,” he bowed slightly, “but you are needed urgently.”

Kat got up swiftly, forgetting the belly, and nearly overbalanced. Both Honda and the interviewer grabbed him.

“I’m good. What’s wrong?”

“This way, sir.” Honda went tight-lipped as he gestured toward the exit.

Not Honda’s style. “Meiko-san, forgive me. May I come back?”

“Of course,” the woman looked stunned but worried, too. “I -” she stopped and listened to her headset. Her face went pale. “Oh! Yes, Jou-chan, thank you, goodbye!”

She bowed, and Honda pulled Katsuya out.

“Dude! What the fuck -”

“In the car,” Honda replied.

His driver pulled up as Honda got to the studio door. They eased him in as fast as the belly allowed. The tires squealed as they pulled off.

“Dude! What the fuck!”

“Kaiba’s on his way to the emergency room.”

“WHAT! SHIT! What happened? Are they alright?”

“Nobody’s sure. Kaiba-sama went to the bathroom and collapsed in the hall. Emergency services were called before someone realized who he was and found Roland.”

Strangers found him. They’ll examine him. They’ll discover the truth. Katsuya felt a full-on panic coming.

“How long before we get there?” he asked. “Who’s with him? Where the fuck is Roland?”

“Checking.” Honda pulled out his phone. “Sir. Kaiba-chan is en-route. He would like to know - uh-huh…. The office?” He tapped the driver. “Re-route to HQ.” He looked at Kat. “They’ve taken him there. Gimme a sec. Sir? Is he ok? He what?” He snickered before he controlled it. “Thank you, sir. I’ll tell Kaiba-chan.” He hung up. “They think he was hyperventilating about you having twins!”

About the kids? Maybe, but Katsuya thought it unlikely. His blood pressure? Blood sugar? Could it be his diet again? How could they get him to his OB - without his GP finding out? A multitude of questions swarmed him.

“Are you ok?” Honda sounded concerned. “Just relax. Roland and the sensei are with him. Chief said to tell you he’s fine.”

If he was fine, he’d have called me.

Katsuya pulled out his phone. No one answered Seto’s mobile.

“How long before we get there?” he asked again.

“Maybe another twenty minutes. Traffic is hideous at this time of day.”

“So take another route!”

“Kat-chan, stay calm. You getting upset is not -”

“I know, I know,” Kat took a deep breath. “I’m trying to be cool here, but he’s not answering his phone. So now I’m worried.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing. They probably turned it off so he can sleep.”

“Sure.”

He looked out the window and tried to stay calm. Roland was with him. They went to the Kaiba clinic, not a hospital. Seto was fine, the babies were fine. They would deal if the truth got out.

“Kat?”

“I’m fine. Just get me there.”

He tried Seto’s phone twice more during the forty minutes they were stuck in traffic. No answer. “Answer your fucking phone asshole!” he growled.

“Chief?” Honda had his phone. “Kaiba-chan has been unable to reach Kaiba-sama on his phone. We were - ah. That would do it. Thank you, sir.” He hung up. “It’s missing. They think it may be at the conference center.”

“Idiot.” Kat sighed. He should have thought to call Roland in the first place. The secretary answered on the second ring.

“Roland.”

“Hey. It’s me. How are - how is he?”

“Fine. A momentary drop in blood pressure.”

“Put him on.”

“I’m afraid at the moment, he is meeting with the Board, so he cannot be disturbed.”

“Can’t be disturbed?! Are you fuckin’ shittin’ -!?” He stopped abruptly. “Wait - he said this morning - Ops and Finance went to this thing with you today, didn’t they.”

“Yes. They were with Kaiba-sama during this morning’s situation.”

“They were with him? So, they know?”

“They know _what_ , sir?” Roland asked tightly. “I _and anyone who can hear you_ want to be clear what you are asking.”

Katsuya became acutely aware of Honda and his driver. They didn’t know about Seto’s pregnancy, and Honda would probably be hurt to learn he wasn’t trusted enough.

“I mean if they were with him, they saw what happened to him, right? So they know if he was acting weird or something before, right?”

“I see,” Roland replied smoothly. “They both reported that they noticed nothing unusual beforehand.”

“Oh.” Kat gave him a moment, but the secretary didn’t go on. “Ok. So, uh, he’s good now?”

“He is meeting with the Board.”

Was that an answer? “Yes? No?”

“As I said, he is meeting with the Board.”

“Oh.”

“I trust you are on your way here?”

“Yeah. Stuck in traffic.”

“Very well. If they finish before you arrive, I will let him know. Good day.”

Kat held the phone for a moment, and tried to not throw it as hard as he could.

“How is he?” Honda asked.

“He’s in a meeting.”

“A meeting?!”

“Yeah.” Don’t throw it, don’t crush it….

“So, I guess he’s good.”

“I guess.”

A beat of silence went by. “It doesn’t help,” Honda said.

“What?”

“Hearing they’re ok. Once you’re keyed up and worried? Hearing they’re ok stops you from freaking out, but you don’t calm down until you lay eyes on them.”

“Yeah.” Kat tried to breathe. Tried not to cry. “Thanks.”

“The way you’re rubbing, it looks like they’re agitated, too.”

“...oh...uh...not really.” Katsuya had to laugh at himself as he realized he was rubbing the belly again. “I think it calms me more than them.”

Which was true. The belly made the thought of being a daddy much more real. It was fake, but it was heavy so the backache was real. And it had a strange way of shifting internally sometimes that made it feel like it was alive. Kat found himself talking to the belly as if the twins really were in there.

Twins. Actually, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched if Seto did faint over the news. They both were still trying to accept it.

Maybe no one noticed anything, and the meeting was about the trip. If it really was his blood pressure, Seto may have decided to move the plan up a few days. That would be great. Five months in a cozy mountain village, just the two of them. No phone, no corp, no family even. Just -

“Kat?” Honda gave him a shake. “Wake up, dude. We’re here.”

“Huh?” Kat woke with a start, then realized the car door was open. “Seto.” He clamored out as quickly as possible.

He could hear the yelling as soon as the elevator doors opened. The senior executive level was a ghost town, except for Roland calmly working at his desk. Katsuya ran past him into the office.

The head of Finance and the head of Operations were having a screaming match with Seto. The head of Technology was having a quieter, but tenser discussion with the company doctor.

“ENOUGH!” the head Legal Counsel roared loud enough to cut over everyone. “I have drawn up the resolution. I’ve forwarded it to everyone. Kaiba, you are hereby removed from this Board and from your positions as President and Chief Executive Officer.”

“Then you will be liquidating this firm, effective immediately!” Seto snapped back. “Good luck with the market after I’m gone.”

“We can pass a resolution to bypass the liquidation clause.”

“To steal the corporation from Gozaburo’s children? His forthcoming grandchildren? The lawsuit will be legendary. I will name a child for him just to watch the court flay you alive with him.”

“Besides,” Finance interceded, “we don’t need to go that far. Mokuba is listed as a board member. If he is genuinely an Alpha -”

“I assure you he is,” Seto snarled.

“Then there is no problem. He will be the family representative to the Board, and the Board will become the Trustee for the Kaiba Irrevocable Trust.”

Seto shot Katsuya a panicked look. Then his face turned cold. “The Trust is not yet your concern. There is a qualified family member.”

He’s going to tell them, Kat thought. He has to. My career and Kawai’s reputation go up in fucking flames.

“An adult Alpha?” Finance sneered. “Well then, that person should come forth. They may serve on the Board, as well.”

“They do not wish to be involved with the corporation at this time.”

“That person doesn’t exist!” Operations yelled.

“Are you idiots really that blind?” Tech had ended his conversation with the Doctor, and moved next to Katsuya. “Jou, the famous omega model. A pregnant Alpha.”

Kat stared at the man, Seto glared at the Doctor.

“How many of my confidences have you betrayed, sensei?” He charged at the man.

“This is not a time for jokes, Ota,” Legal sighed. “He’s right about the share price. If we oust -”

“I’m not joking,” Tech replied. “I’ve known from the day I met him. At Nouchi’s, to be clear. And calm down, Kaiba!” Tech scoffed. “You betrayed yourself - when you were 13, as I recall.” He glanced at Katsuya. “You have your father’s looks. You even play his role quite well. But I have always been quite sensitive to omegas, and you hold no appeal whatsoever. Gozaburo’s son, however? You caught my eye the moment he introduced you. In truth, I had originally spoken to him about arranging a marriage between us. I always wondered why he hated you. Quite the thorn to discover your omega bastard is smarter than yourself.”

“You knew and never told us!?” Finance yelled.

Which started more yelling.

Katsuya looked at Seto. He looked pale and a bit shaky. Their eyes met and his husband gave a very slight shake of his head. The executive straightened, seeming to find some strength from somewhere.

“We are getting nowhere, gentlemen! Stop yelling and think! It has already been proven, on several occasions, that this company will not survive without me. Oust me, I will simply take it from you.”

More yelling.

Katsuya stared at the scene. He’d been to a few corporate meetings at Kawai. Nothing approaching this had ever come close to happening. How the fuck did they run a food cart much less a corporation? How did Seto take the stress? Especially now. No wonder he was eating for two and still losing weight.

Seto did not look right. Too pale. Even his voice sounded off.

Katsuya was moving before he realized it, and caught his husband before anyone reacted to his collapse.

He glared at the assembled men. “If anything happens to my kids, I won’t leave enough of you to burn.”


	15. Chapter 15

Failure.

Absolute failure.

Gozaburo won. Once his determination was public, he would be removed from the Kaiba family. He would be literally houseless. Ronin. Just as Gozaburo hoped.

Seto stared at the window of his private hospital room. They had placed him in a room with shatter-proof windows that didn’t open. That was unlikely to be by chance. It was also probably not by chance that the room contained nothing breakable, no tubes or wires longer than 30cm, and no-tear sheets.

Of course if I were truly clever, he thought, I could overcome all of that.

His stomach moved and he sighed. He could harm himself; omegas were nothing. But Katsuya’s children? 'Katsuichi' and 'Katsuji' were safe. Five more months, and then Seto could do the only honorable thing. The suicide forest is actually supposed to be quite lovely, if a bit macabre.

He’d have to make sure Mokuba was emancipated before then. The boy would still be under-aged, but by the letter of the law he’d be able to take control of the Trust, and that was the important part.

He needed to update his life insurance. And his will. They would both need to be restructured. Katsuya would soon be a single father of twins. He would need every available asset. Papa never had enough of anything.

Seto made a mental note to set up a Trust account for the twins as well. Mokuba or Noa could be the trustees if Katsuya couldn’t. Papa’s assets were handled by the local government. That had ultimately led two innocents into the clutches of a monster.

Not my children.

A new trust, offshore funding. A non-Kaiba entity just for the security.

There was a nurse call button attached to the bed. Seto rang it. Even a loss needed preparation. The sooner he was released from confinement, the sooner he could protect Mokuba and Katsuya, the sooner he could join Papa, and mama, and all the rest of the family.


	16. Chapter 16

Kawai Design and Kawai Studio were nice offices, Kat thought, but they didn’t have the over-the-top corporate luxury that KaibaCorp had. His grandparents were more practical, and more expense went into the workshops than into the administrative areas.

Simple office, small staff, but it still took almost an hour to get past the support team and up to the old man’s studio. Too many hugs, too many joyful squeals, too many chastisements about not visiting sooner or more often. Too, too many baby questions.

It didn’t help that he kept the sonogram video and pictures on his phone.

Still, in the elevator on his way to see his family, he felt guilty. It was all a lie. A lie he desperately wished was true, but a lie just the same.

Honda had been pissed. Katsuya told him the pregnancy was a lie, and who was actually with child. Kat simply could not justify his friend and bodyguard being the only person who didn’t know. Honda understood the problem, but he’d been pissed. He seemed to be getting over it. Proof that he was getting over it was why Kat was here today.

Closed shoot, the sign on the door read.

They only closed the shoot if it was naked or a celebrity that they wanted to keep a surprise until the photos ran. Today was both.

Inside, his father was wearing a dress shirt and briefs, posing. He looked good. Better than Kat remembered. He must have started going to the gym; his abdomen was pretty cut. Then again, it’s not like he’s old. Dad’s only 37.

“KATSUYA!”

A pair of arms wrapped around his neck from behind and pulled down forcefully.

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, YOU AWFUL CHILD?”

“Grandma!” He coughed. “Choking!”

She released him and turned him to face her. “Oh, you wicked boy! Who told you to hide my grandchild?!”

“Great grandchild.” Kat heard his mother snark.

“Oh look at you!” The designer went on as if her daughter hadn’t spoken. “You look like you’re due any day now! What are you having, a football team? Tsk! You’ve thrown my schedule into absolute chaos - before you leave today, you are scheduling my layout! That Kaiba boy does not own you, and I have a good mind to tell him that the next time I see him!”

“Grandma -”

“And speaking of your husband, when exactly am I going to see him, too?! It’s bad enough that the two of you are always off doing whatever you two do, but-”

“Old lady -!”

“- have the decency to remember that family is important. I’m not going to be around forever, you know, and -”

“And here we go!” Mom sighed. “Mother, trust me. He’s immune to guilt.”

“And so were you,” his grandfather chuckled, “until Shizuka. Alright, boy. You’ve been avoiding us. Why?”

“Yeah. That.” He glanced at his Grandfather’s staff. “Can we talk, just family?”

“Jean-Paul?” Grandfather called one of his assistant’s over. “Take everyone to lunch. Now. Put it on my account.”

“Yes, sir! Thank you, boss!” It took almost a minute for them to accept the free lunch offer.

“Are we on break?” Mikail asked as they all hurried past him.

“Kat-chan has some sort of announcement.” Dad pulled Mikail closer. “Family only.”

“Oh?”

“Uh, yeah.” Katsuya took a deep breath. This was gonna be the hard part. “Ok. See, uh -”

“Kat,” Mom had that warning tone.

Fuck it, he thought, and took off his shirt. The prosthetic belly was obvious. “I’m not pregnant.” They all went silent, which was the only positive scenario he could imagine. “We are having kids - well, I’m having them and Seto’s not divorcing me, but -”

“What?” Grandfather seemed to recover first. “Are you saying that you cheated -”

“Yeah.” Kat nodded, hoping he looked guilty as he pulled a picture from his pocket. One he hadn’t shared with the staff downstairs.

Katsuya in a hat and dark glasses. Seto in a pink dress and a curly black wig. The photo was taken from behind some bushes across the street from the clinic. The photographer attempting to blackmail Kat was being taken care of by Tamora - a phrase that outright terrified Kat - but the pictures he’d taken had given Honda an idea.

“Someone tried to blackmail me with these. Look, we met while Seto was out-of-town. We were at a party, I was drunk, and I didn’t know she was in heat. When I found out, she wanted to have an abortion, but Seto stopped us. He wants to adopt them.”

“And you are faking a pregnancy?” Mikail sounded incredulous. “To cover for your affair?”

“Yeah.”

“Inherited your mother’s fidelity, I see,” Dad snarked.

“And your father’s sex drive,” she countered.

“Does this have to be about you two?” Mikail sighed.

“Just a moment! You said ‘them’.” His grandmother cut in. “You keep saying ‘them’! Are you having multiple?”

“She is, yeah. Twins.”

“You are,” she insisted. “You’ll just be the father, not the mother. And they are still mine. You two stop fussing, honestly! I can’t imagine what brought the two of you together in the first place!”

“I was drunk,” Mom tsked. But she winked at Kat.

“We both must have been,” Dad seemed to be fighting back a grin. “So. Kaiba’s forgiving you for this?”

“How is he anyway?” Mom pried. “His office is being very closed mouthed about him collapsing.”

“Probably the stress of being married to Kat.” Mikail rolled his eyes.

“His appendix,” Kat explained. Seto’s doctor thought the symptoms were close enough to cover. “He’s trying to avoid surgery, so they’ve got him on some holistic treatment right now. Bed rest until it works.”

“He’s a young fool,” Grandfather snapped. “A burst appendix has killed stronger men than him! You get that husband of yours into surgery right away!”

“...uh, yeah. I’ll tell him.”

“Now,” Grandmother turned Katsuya to face her again. “When are we doing my layout?”

“Huh?”

“Jou is pregnant and Kawai doesn’t have a new maternity line? Who on Earth would believe that? Or were you avoiding telling me this was fake because you thought I’d be angry?”

Kat caught the sheepish looks on his parents’ faces. “...uh...yeah...kinda.”

She smacked his shoulder hard. “I am angry! Kaiba is a wonderful man and you don’t deserve to be bonded to him!” She hit him again. “Not only are you not having his child, but you got some omega tramp pregnant!” She hit him again.

“Old lady! Ow!”

“This was probably some trap for that no good whore to get into your husband's bed! Don’t be surprised if he leaves you for her! It will be your own fault!”

“Ow! Hey! Quit it! Hey, Medusa - a little help over here?”

“Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.” Mom shrugged.

“WHEN DO I GET MY PICTURES?”

“Ok! Geez! Tomorrow! Today! Whenever! Quit hitting me, old lady!”

She smiled smugly. “Be here by noon tomorrow. I need to do some sewing.” She moved toward the door. “Wait. You have that fake belly for your earlier weeks, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” He smiled for real. “Actually, it’s made me wish I really was pregnant.”

“We can tell,” Dad said, pointing down.

Kat was unconsciously rubbing the belly again. He felt his face heat up.

“Bring them all with you. I can take all the pictures I missed, too.” Grandmother left.

Grandfather studied the belly. “That is very realistic. I’ll have to airbrush the sides. What kind of breasts are you using?”

“Oh, these are real. I’m going to breastfeed.”

“Doesn’t the mother -”

“She really doesn’t want to be involved with that.”

“But Kaiba does?”

“He said this helps him with some family thing so he has a kid now, but Mokuba still inherits. We are gonna have a kid, but later. When his brother can take over the company, and he can come home at night.”

Grandfather nodded. “I can see the wisdom in that. I missed most of my children growing up.”

“You totally missed out,” Dad grinned. “Kids do the most amazing things.”

“They do surprise you,” Mom agreed. “You never know what they’ll do next.”

“Alright,” Grandfather said abruptly. “Since you’re here, I want a few test photos. Strip. Ren, bring me the risers - the three step. Mikail, get my nikon. Ayuka, help me adjust these lights.”

“Wait - what are we doing?”

“If your grandmother gets her pictures, I get mine. And since you aren’t really with child, you won’t have any trouble posing. Come on, get undressed. We’ll schedule something formal when I know how much these need re-touching.”


	17. Chapter 17

He had to leave KaibaCorp. They found some foreigner named Dartz to hire as an interim CEO. The official line was that Kaiba Seto was on a medical leave of absence, due to acute appendicitis and his spouse’s pregnancy. He had to leave KaibaManor as well, since most of the household staff didn’t know the truth.

They told almost everyone that he was at a private hospital, but of course that was a lie. Seto bought a three-bedroom condo half a mile from his obstetrician. His personal physician met with the OB and pronounced her to be acceptably qualified to remain his consultant. Once she knew who her patient truly was, she was willing to make after hours house calls for his standard check ups.

The condo building’s first floor contained several shops, and anything he needed that they didn’t carry could be ordered online and delivered. 

Seto was bored beyond measure.

From medication to food, and anything in between, everything came to his doorstep. Seto didn’t need to leave his condo for a single reason. Indeed, he couldn’t leave without disguising himself.

And when they realized the conflict between Jou being pregnant and then later being seen not with child in the company of a pregnant ‘girlfriend’, Seto insisted that Katsuya stay at the manor. If he had been admitted to a hospital, his spouse would stay at home, so why should Kat stay at the condo?

More than a month so far, alone. Seto had never been actually on his own like this. Katsuya came any time his schedule allowed. Mokuba and Noa visited. Roland and Tamora checked on him.

But the bulk of his days were spent alone, and bored. Planning for the birth and his subsequent death had been surprisingly quick and easy. Mokuba had already retained an attorney to process his emancipation. Seto suggested the grounds of suspected abuse of funds because it would be readily believed and uncontested by the courts. Seto’s estate was relatively small and all but a few specific items were bequeathed to his wife. There was nothing else to do but deliver the boys and then exit this world with the only honor remaining.

Until then, bored.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to find something else to occupy himself. The Board had ‘generously’ allowed him to continue working by remote on his programming tasks. He told them that his current health concerns precluded such work. He had been deleting all emails from the company without opening. They were not going to profit from his labors.

His will, the trust for the twins, and a new source of funds had been his first priority. When he was between tasks for those, he went online and brought all his classes up-to-date. Finishing the degree didn’t matter, but the classes gave him something marginally interesting to occupy his time.

After he finished his financial planning, he’d decided to design a new game. One simple enough for preverbal children, but that would grow in complexity as they learned new skills. He opened a shop named TwinDragons on an online market and posted the game for download for ¥200. Then, converted it to an app for his phone and his tablet, and uploaded those versions. Then, he converted the desktop game and the apps to other device formats, and uploaded those. He wasn’t really interested in sales because the uploads were primarily so he didn’t have to wait for the birth for age-appropriate play testers. He had all funds generated posted directly to an account for the boys’ trust.

After two weeks, he began getting emails asking for additional features.

He built the first few. But he was already tired of the project. He wanted to pass it on to the programming team, but there wasn’t one for his new entity.

He tried day trading. It was like gambling, but more intelligent. Foreign markets were a bit more of a challenge because he wasn’t as familiar with them. He gained funds, lost some, then gained more. The thrill was gone after few weeks or so. Again, he put the funds in the boys’ trust account. 

As a change of pace, he’d investigated pursuing something artistic. He tried several online drawing and painting classes. A calligraphy class. He even ordered a kit to make baby bibs and blankets. He’d started the cute pattern of panda and tiger cubs, but found it more tedious than any office paperwork had ever been.

In between larger tasks, he’d read several books, joined an online chess club, became an adviser on a programming advice board, watched several television shows that were highly recommended - and slept through most of them - attempted to meditate, and learned a dozen or so new origami figures.

“Otto-sama, stop!” Katsuya chastised him as Seto replied to another message. “Bed rest! You are supposed to be eating and sleeping.”

“I sleep half the day,” Seto grumbled.

“And you don’t eat enough. Both sensei said that. Astrid’s a really good cook.” Astrid was the part-time maid. “She made you chicken corn chowder. I thought you loved chicken corn chowder.”

“Did she? I’ll have some when I finish this.”

“You’ll have some now.” Katsuya put a hot bowl of soup beside him. “I’m not moving until you eat.”

Seto glanced at his wife. Katsuya was still wearing his ‘public’ clothing. The belly, a maternity dress. He looked as big as Seto felt, but Katsuya had that healthy maternal glow that made him even more beautiful than usual. Even the gentle curve of his developing breast only served to make him more lovely.

My wife’s fake pregnancy shouldn’t look better than my real one.

He picked up the soup and ate a spoonful. “I’m eating. Now be a good wife and let me work.”

“You’re not supposed to be working. What happened to that cute sweater you were knitting?”

“Cabinet. Top left. I decided I’d rather stab myself through the eyes than finish it.”

“Aw. I was looking forward to wearing it. Eat.”

“Feel free to finish it yourself then.”

“I wanted to wear something Otto-sama made.”

“I assure you, I am not skilled in all crafts. I’ll buy you something.”

“Totally not the same thing. Eat.”

“I’m eating. I’m working and eating.”

“What is that anyway?”

“Reply to Novice623. He’s trying to unlock an iPhone in Xinjing, but the code isn’t working. I’m writing a new one for him.”

“Xinjiang?”

“Western China, between India and Mongolia.” Seto hit enter. “There. That should bypass the government lockouts and reset the device.” He picked up the bowl of soup and ate while watching the screen. “He is waiting, so I should receive a reply momen-” A line of happy face icons popped up. Seto put the bowl down and began typing in Chinese.

“Chinese?”

“Uyghur, to be precise.

“I thought you spoke regular Chinese.”

“Mandarin. Yes. I saw this dialect and decided to learn it. This site has several users from the region, so it’s a good place to practice written -” He frowned at the screen.

“What?”

“He’s accepting my invitation to dinner.”

“You invited another guy to dinner while I’m standing here?”

“Not intentionally.” Seto scanned through the conversation. He cut and pasted a line into a translator on another tab. “Ah!” He made some corrections, then sent the new text. Almost immediately a laughing icon appeared.

Seto typed a bit more, then logged off and turned to his wife.

“I’m curious. If I had invited another man to dinner, what would you do?”

“Depends. Is he cuter than me?”

“Of course. I would only consider someone better than you.”

“Hmmm.” Katsuya looked thoughtful. “Well, I guess, first of all I’d have to strip you.”

“Strip me?”

“Yeah. You won’t go naked, right?”

“No one would want to see me naked. Not now, at least.”

“I can’t judge, Otto-sama. You’re more beautiful now than you’ve ever been.”

“Hmm. I guess love truly is blind.”

Katsuya leaned down and kissed him, at first gently and then with growing need.

Seto pushed him away. “I’m not in the mood.” He hadn’t been for some time, in fact.

“Ooo-kay.”

Seto motioned him away and his wife stepped back so he could stand. He waddled to the kitchen with his empty bowl. He didn’t understand why people were constantly harping about his weight. He was huge. He could only wear skirts now because no decent pants fit around his giant girth. When he searched online for maternity clothes, his measurements were all in the ‘3rd+’ category. At this rate returning to his original figure would be impossible.

And the movement! The two fetuses were as active as their father, and almost as much trouble. Seto could only ‘cat nap’ during the day, largely because it was impossible to lie still and sleep at night. 

Another skill Gozaburo taught him. The ability to function for days at a time on minimal sleep. The man would give Seto ten impossible tasks and four days to complete them. Seto learned how to function under pressure and sleep in any position, day or night. Without that ability, these two budding demons would have him clinically sleep deprived along with everything else.

He rinsed the bowl. Astrid had made soup, dumplings, and rice. Mokuba and Noa would finish any leftovers on their next visit; they also were fans of the girl’s cooking. Seto hadn’t eaten enough of it to judge.

“You haven’t tried the dumplings yet, have you?” Katsuya came up behind him and rubbed his shoulders.

“I’ll have them for dinner.”

“What’d she make yesterday?”

“Pasta.”

Katsuya opened the refrigerator and gestured. “Pork chops. You gotta start eating more or you really are gonna wind up in a hospital.”

“Heavy foods upset my stomach.” He picked up a dumpling and bit it. “Acceptable. I’ll have them for dinner.”

Kat huffed. “Can I do anything?”

“You’ve done quite enough.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means what I said. You have done more than I require at this time. Control your emotions. You are overreacting to a simple observation. Or are you suffering from Couvade syndrome?”

“What?” His wife looked confused.

“It’s a condition under which the non-pregnant partner begins exhibiting signs of pregnancy.”

His wife huffed again. “Ok, look. When most people say you’ve done more than enough, they mean you made things worse. If that’s what I did, I’m sorry.”

“I see. No. You have, in fact, actually resolved several issues where I have failed. You make pregnancy easy and fun. Staggeringly beautiful. I, on the other hand -”

“Otto-sama, I’m not really pregnant!” Katsuya stroked Seto’s stomach. “Of course it’s easy. It’s an act. And don’t call me beautiful, when you are a thousand times more so. I am so sorry you’re trapped in here. I just want to show you off to everybody!”

“No. You mistake me. I’d always presumed that any maternity of mine would be alone and in secrecy. I thought I would fill my time with planning for the new arrivals and choosing schools and -”

“- and you haven’t been able to?”

“I’m done!”

“Done?”

“The nursery is finished, the -”

“Finished? When? How? I thought we’d do that stuff together!”

“When and how?” Seto waddled back to his desk and opened some photos. “Tsuma darling, while you have been being the very necessary public face of the Kaiba family, I have been ordering furniture and working with contractors.”

The pictures were of a perfect nursery for two, painted sky blue and grass green with pictures of dragonflies, butterflies, kittens and puppies. A family of dragons graced the ceiling. Two cribs, changing tables, dressers. A stock of diapers filled the closet. A stack of bottles and other nursing supplies was on a table next to a large diaper bag. A stroller leaned in the corner.

“When were you home -”

“Noa has been my surrogate. He had made some decisions about his life. Quite a stunning young man. He has decided to leave high school.”

“He what! And you’re gonna let him?”

“He wants to be our nanny.”

“Our nanny?”

“Yes. He passed the entrance exam for a child care certification program. Between classes, Noa’s been supervising the workmen and the installation of furnishing. He still seems to have trouble with the idea that I am the one who is pregnant, but I’ve told Mokuba not to press the issue.”

“Ok, so their room is set. But schools -”

“Chosen. I’ve reserved seats in three different preschools.”

“You can do that?”

“It will give them a choice of programs when the time comes. I have a fund set aside for their education through college.”

“Ok. What about simple stuff like blankets and -”

“I have a suitcase with several sizes of receiving blankets, onesies, and gowns to bring them home in. I have purchased clothing, linens, toys, everything recommended for the first three years of life.”

“Ok! You’re right, they’re covered. What about you?”

“The bag beside the door has everything I need.”

“Wow, you really are set.”

“And now I am bored beyond frustration. I had no idea how ungodly awful this condition would be.”

“It wouldn’t be so bad if you weren’t locked up all the time.”

“Would that give me my body back? Would it give me my time? Would spending my days at the office or anywhere else make me less of an ungainly, bloated walking disaster?”

“Otto-sama, you’re not a disaster!”

“Of course not! I look no worse than anyone growing two human beings inside them. But I feel like a train wreck! I am a terrible person because I wish the Noa Project had been successful. Then you could do this. You have the patience for this. Tsuma, darling, I hope someone makes it possible for you to carry a child because I assure you, if I survive the birth of your sons, I will never do this again.”


	18. Chapter 18

“Ok,” Dad laughed as the door closed behind them. “Now, you’re just mocking him. Seto can’t be that big.”

“At least that big,” Honda chuckled.

“He’s 36cm around, but Dad, I swear it’s all right here. He has gained not an ounce anyplace else. Hell, I’ve put on more weight than he has!”

“Eating for three, are you?” Dad laughed.

“Shit, eating for 300!”

“Yeah? Well, I guess I gotta feed you. Come on; I haven’t eaten yet either. Let’s raid the kitchen here.”

Lunch with Dad at the club. Probably the simplest day I’ve had in a month, Katsuya thought. He had taken all the required photos. He’d made all the required appearances. He was finally reaching the point where people - more specifically his mother - were accepting the excuse that he was too pregnant to do stuff. Or, at least he should be.

Dad opened the kitchen door and Kat followed him in. A nice, quiet -

“SURPRISE!”

All of the club’s staff. A couple guys who hadn’t worked there for a while. Yugi.

“Yugi?”

“Oh my gosh!” His friend laughed. “Honda said you were huge, but you look like you ate two watermelons!”

“Oh, that’s funny, chibi, funny. You know you get bigger, faster with the second one, right?”

Yugi rubbed his flat stomach. “That has nothing to do with you being a house!” He flung his arms around Katsuya. “But I’m so glad I got to be here today!”

“Yeah, me too.” Kat hugged him.

“My turn!” Yuki muscled in when Yugi let go. “You look just as gorgeous as Ren did!”

Lots of hugs. Lots of cake, and stupid games, and more baby stuff than they’d need if they were having octuplets.

“You can never have enough onesies!” Aki said. “Ichi-chan used to wait for me to put a clean one on him just so he could dirty it. I’m convinced babies know exactly how many changes you have with you.”

“And then they need one more,” someone else finished.

A lot of laughter, and child care advice. Katsuya had gotten really good at faking most pregnancy details, and the belly Tashi found had a baby-size mass in it that moved on its own. People touched his stomach and believed. Which was making it hard for Kat not to believe.

These surprise baby showers had happened several times. Kawai had one, and KaibaCorp. Two of his long term modeling gigs. They left him feeling grateful, and loved and guilty as sin. And heartbroken that he wasn’t actually carrying 'Setsuya' and 'Setomi'.

Before, growing up, when he thought he was an omega, Kat swore he would never have kids, that he’d never even want them. Now, watching Seto’s pregnancy - watching as new life made his husband more beautiful each day - he sometimes found himself close to tears that he wasn’t the one.

“You ok?” Dad asked.

“Oh,” Katsuya sniffed and wiped his eyes. “Yeah. I’m good.” He rubbed his belly. “I think I actually ate too much.”

“You look like you could use a nap,” Sonoma chuckled. “You can borrow a room upstairs, if you’d like.”

“Thanks, Boss.” Dad helped Kat stand.

“Oh, no, really,” he protested, “I can just -”

“Hey, Yugi, give me a hand getting this stuff out to the car.” Honda started stacking the gifts.

“Sure!”

Dad led the protesting model up to one of the club’s private suites. “How is he? Really.”

“Ok. Good. Really.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Really? Because you look pretty stressed.”

“Me? No, I’m - I’m good. I’m -”

“- a terrible liar.” Dad shook his head. “Always have been.”

“We’re fine. I stopped by this morning and had breakfast with him. He started a chat group with some parents of kids with Down Syndrome. He’s programming again.”

“Down Syndrome?! Why is he looking into that? Is there something wrong -”

“No, no, no! Everything’s perfect with our boys. No, apparently he posted this game to the web, and this mom in England emailed him that her kid loved it, and he’s got Down’s, and was Seto gonna do a version that worked on her phone or whatever. They got started talking, and now this project is a thing for him.” Katsuya sighed. “At least he’s not bored anymore.”

“But he’s still not ‘affectionate’.”

Kat sighed again. “No.” He gathered himself. “But, come on. Third trimester? Who wants to touch anybody by then, right?”

“Wrong guy to ask. Your mom and I rocked it up to the day you were born.”

“I so did not need to know that.”

“Y’know, you’ve gotta take care of him, but he needs to be at least sympathetic to you, too. He’s doing all the heaving lifting now, but you can’t let him just ignore your relationship. This isn’t like Ay and me. You two are married.”

“He’s having my kids ‘cause I asked him to, Dad. He already had the abortion. I stopped him from having another. He wouldn’t be going through this if it weren’t for me. He wrecked his career - maybe his whole life. For me. I am not gonna bitch at him ‘cause he doesn’t wanna get busy!”

“Ok, ok. But if you need to bitch at someone, I’m here.”


	19. Chapter 19

“Happy birthday!” They all yelled as Seto opened the door.

He sighed heavily and tried to calm the growth doing back flips inside him. “Come in. You’re disturbing the neighbors. Among others.”

His wife, his brothers, Roland and Tamora. The only people he would want to celebrate with, if he wanted to celebrate at all.

His former secretary brought food. The others all had gift boxes.

“We know you’re trying to hide out, big bro, but we had to do something!”

“Of course, Mokuba,” Seto smiled mildly and resigned himself to wasting the rest of the day. “Thank you.”

“Stop growling,” Roland tsked. “No one believes it when you smile like that. We’re here to ensure you eat a proper meal, and to impress upon you that you are appreciated by someone.”

“Many someones,” Tamora agreed and handed Seto a stack of envelopes. “From the staff, and others.”

Birthday cards. A surprising number of them. Seto put them on his desk, wondering if the number of condolence cards would be more, or less.

He was actually looking forward to his death. Everything was ready. Katsuya and Mokuba would have nothing to do but dispose of his bones. He’d even set aside assets for Roland. As the elder brother, Seto was supposed to have protected the family, but he failed.

Now, at fifteen, Mokuba was legally independent, and the courts had made him the trustee of the family trust. He still had to contend with the KaibaCorp board, but Mokuba was far more capable than Seto. By giving birth, Seto will have fulfilled his sole purpose as an omega spouse. Perhaps his last act will provide his wife with Alpha offspring. That would be a worthwhile legacy.

But that did mean living long enough to deliver healthy children. Six more weeks to his scheduled c-section. Seto realized finally that his own weight gain was irrelevant; he fully intended to die before he left the maternity ward. He still did not seem to have much of an appetite, but his stomach had expanded dramatically.

“You ok, big bro?” Mokuba asked. “You’re rubbing your belly a lot.”

“They are rather active today. Nothing to be concerned about.”

“May I see?” Noa moved to his side and pressed his ear to Seto’s belly. “Hello, Ichi-chan! Hello, Ji-chan!” He laughed. “They make water noises.”

“Tell them to stop swimming.” Seto couldn’t resist smiling.

“I wanna hear!” Katsuya moved to the other side and listened. “Sounds like you got gas, Otto-sama.”

“Must you ruin everything?” Seto tsked.

“I’m just teasing, Otto-sama!” Katsuya kissed his belly, then leaned up to kiss his cheek. “It sounds like music.” He winced.

“What?”

“Nothing,” his wife shrugged. “Ate too much.”

“Onii-sama, may I ask you something?” Noa asked abruptly.

“Of course, brother.” Seto turned to the young man.

“Are you happy?”

Not a question he wanted to answer. “Well, what do you think? Do you think I’m happy?”

“No,” he replied simply.

“I see.” He glanced at the others. Roland looked a bit smug, but Mokuba and Katsuya looked worried. “And why do you think that?”

“Auntie says happy people laugh everyday. But you don’t ever laugh.”

“Of course I laugh. You don’t see me everyday.”

“I’ve never heard you laugh, Onii-sama.”

“Yeah,” Mokuba agreed. “Not since Egypt, at least.”

“He laughs.” Katsuya looked thoughtful. “He used to. Well, when we’re alone, at least.”

“We don’t need to know what you do alone,” Tamora grumbled. “Real laughter, or his public laugh?”

“A happy laugh,” Noa said looking confused. “Auntie says at least once a day you should laugh so hard your stomach hurts.”

“I’m sure he’s never done that,” Roland snarked.

Katsuya hissed and rubbed his stomach.

“I have antacids if you need them,” Seto offered.

“Yeah. I must have eaten something.”

“We all ate the same thing.” Roland stood up. “Kitchen or bathroom, sir?”

“Bath.” Seto studied his wife. “You didn’t eat that much tonight.”

“Quit worrying. I’m fine. I’ll take something and lie down for a bit. Do you mind?”

In all the time he’d been in the condo, Seto still had not allowed Katsuya to stay overnight.

“Of course not, Tsuma darling. Do you want some water, or green tea?”

“Naw. I’ll take a nap.” He kissed Seto’s cheek. “I’ll be fine. Maybe I need to throw up.”

“Better out than in,” Tamora agreed.

After Katsuya left, the room was quiet.

“Can we play Spot?” Noa asked suddenly.

“Oh yeah!” Mokuba jumped up and flipped on Seto’s computer. “Big bro, you gotta see this thing. This game is totally addictive!”

“A game?” Seto smirked. He hadn’t shown his brother what he’d been working on. “I thought you only played ours.”

“Everybody at school is on this thing!”

“The game with the dots?” Tamora nodded. “We had to add it to the banned list for security. Too easy to get distracted while on duty.”

“Ok, big bro. Come here.” Seto was in the arm chair. His desk was on the other side of the room. “You need help getting up?”

He rolled his eyes even as he swore internally. The twins had just settled down some. He struggled out of the chair and heaved himself across the room. The boys were doing backflips by the time he reached the desk.

“What?”

“Sit.” Mokuba snickered. “Are you sure it’s only two? You look like I could fit in there!”

“If I have a child like you, I will strangle it at birth.”

Mokuba snickered. “Yeah, two of me is too many!”

“One of you is too many,” Roland added.

“Show him, Niisan!” Noa joined them at the computer. “Start here. Open this.” Noa pointed to the screen. “When Ichi-chan and Ji-chan get here, I’m going to teach them to play too! I loaded it to the baby touch screen you got.”

“I see. Do you think it’s too much for a baby?”

“Oh no! Watch - pick a dot.”

Seto pressed a white one. A second white dot appeared. Each time he selected a white dot, a new one appeared. Then both black and white dots appeared. Nothing happened when he selected the black dots, but the white dots made a cheerful note.

“Most people wiz through the first few levels, but it can take babies months to remember how it works,” Noa explained.

“Every time you do something smart, the game gets smarter.” Mokuba touched three white dots at once. “Watch.”

The game released three white dots. Noa pressed one and the game gave a sharp beep. He pressed three. There was a cheerful note, and more dots.

“At the upper levels, the patterns are harder and there are more colors. The game shapes itself to the way you play it,” Noa went on excitedly. “Whoever made it has to be an awesome Awesome, like you, Onii-sama!”

“He’s better than me, that’s for sure.” Mokuba groused. “I’ve emailed him a couple times to make him a buyout offer but I get nothing back.”

“Maybe he’s not interested in selling it.”

“Bullshit. Everyone’s interested in selling. I told Tech he’s got 30 days to break the code or I’m buying out his stocks and firing him.”

“Is that wise?”

“Hell, yeah! You could probably reverse engineer it, but Tech’s not that bright. I figure either he figures out how to build a Kaiba version, or I can get rid of one of the assholes who screwed you. Either way, works for me.”

“I see. Well. It looks like you have things well in hand.” Seto yawned. “Oh! Pardon me.”

“No, sir. Please forgive us.” Roland and Tamora bowed. “You need your rest, and we’ve stayed too long.”

“Nonsense. It’s still light out.”

“Twilight,” Roland chided, “and you should be resting. I’ve washed everything. Astrid can finish cleaning in the morning. Should we wake Kaiba-san?”

Seto hesitated. “No. If he is ill, the rest will do him good.”

“Good night, Onii-sama.” Noa bowed properly, then hugged Seto. “Good night, Ichi-chan and Ji-chan.”

“Night, big bro.” Mokuba hugged him as well. “I miss you Nii-sama,” he whispered, “it’s weird not having you in the house.”

“I understand.” Seto smoothed his brother’s hair. “Six weeks and this will all be over.”

They left.

Noa would make a good nanny. Katsuya was going to be a wonderful papa. Seto sat at his desk again, and checked his emails. He was trying to respond to modification requests as quickly as possible. In six weeks there would be no further changes. He scrolled through some of his deleted messages. Mokuba had used an official address, rather than a personal one, but the offer was reasonable.

TwinDragon, however, was making a nice sum between the ad revenue for the now free download, and the rather expensive ad-free version. He was surprised how many people were willing to pay for the ‘clear’ game. The funds went directly to the children’s trust, so selling it to KaibaGames wasn’t an option.

'Katsuichi' and 'Katsuji' were still doing back flips. Seto began walking around the room, trying to settle them. Six more weeks.

Six more weeks and this will all be over.


	20. Chapter 20

His stomach was killing him.

Katsuya managed to sleep for a while, but fitfully. He was nauseous, but more, it was like some kind of acid-gas-knife combination that pulsed every few minutes.

Like cramps. Or labor.

Crap, he thought, maybe I do have that wanna be prego thing!

It couldn’t be labor. He didn’t feel like he needed to push anything. Like he could push anything. Women had vaginas, and omegas had cloacas. Alphas just had dicks. Useless!

Not that omegas had cloacal births anymore. That was pretty much a guarantee of dying in childbirth.

The pain pulsed again. Katsuya groaned as he realized he was going to throw up at any moment. He got up and raced to the bathroom.

Dinner and Seto’s birthday cake came up, but each heave felt like the knife being stabbed deeper. The pain still radiated out, but it did seem to be starting from one point.

“Do you admit that you are sick now?” Seto asked from the bathroom door.

“Yeah, ugh. Sorry, Otto-sama. I’ll clean this up.”

“I’ve left a message for Astrid. She’ll handle this in the morning. Here. Put these on.”

Seto handed him a pair of contact lenses.

“Huh? Ow! Fuck! I’m sorry, I can’t -”

“Put them on or I will put them on you! I am not in the mood to argue!”

Standing upright hurt, but arguing with Seto never ended well. Katsuya put on the lenses without even noting what color they were. He staggered out to the living room and wrapped himself around a throw pillow.

“I think I’m in labor,” he moaned.

“I highly doubt that. Neither of us is in labor.” Seto tapped his shoulder. “Sit up. I can’t bend over that far.”

“Otto-sama, I’m sorry, but my stomach is killing me! Please just -”

“I have already called sensei. He’s sending an ambulance. They can look at whatever’s wrong with you when we get to the hospital. Now, sit up. I need to affix this.”

Katsuya forced himself upright. Seto pulled something on his head and glued it in place. “Ugh! Otto-sama! What are you doing?”

“You can lie down now. Do not vomit on my couch.”

Kat collapsed again, pulling himself fetal. What the hell did he eat? Seto crossed through the room, and then back. The pain pulsed again.

“Here.” A blonde man with Seto’s voice gave him a larger pillow to hold.

That caught Katsuya’s attention, and he sat up instinctively. “Ow!” The shoulder-length blonde hair softened Seto’s face, and the brown eyes didn’t burn. “Are you cosplaying me?”

“Think you can make it to the bathroom?” Seto almost smiled. A real smile.

For a real smile, I can make it to China, the model thought.

The reflection was them - or at least the cosplayed version of them. Kat had a brown wig cut in Seto’s distinctive point, and blue contacts. They didn’t really look like each other if you knew them personally. But anyone who knew them only from the media - like hospital employees or paramedics - would see a pregnant Katsuya and a sick Kaiba.

“You are so fucking brilliant,” Kat sighed. “How’d you get stuck with a loser like me?”

“If I were truly intelligent, I would have thought of this initially.”

Water splashed on the tile bathroom floor. The both looked down to see the small pool at Seto’s feet.

“If you had to go, you could have just - ow - said something.”

But Seto looked a bit shaken and hugged his stomach. “I didn’t - that isn’t - a discharge. A rather heavy discharge.”

Mom always talks about how mortified she was when her water broke at the office. She’d been in labor all morning, but she went to work anyway.

Katsuya looked at his husband. “How long have you been in labor?”

“I can’t be in labor. I am 32 weeks. At best, labor couldn’t start for another month. This is a false labor.”

“But your water just broke, didn’t it?”

“I had an unexpected discharge.”

“So, how long - ow - have you been in ‘false labor’?”

“As I said, I have already contacted sensei - both of them, in fact - and they have given me specific instructions. Which I have followed.”

There was a loud banging on the front door.

“Ah. Our ride. Come along.”

They struggled out, with Seto yelling at the emergency workers to stop banging when they weren’t moving fast enough.

“Who is the patient?” The confused paramedics looked at both distressed men.

“He is,” the couple answered in sync.

“Unidentified abdominal distress,” Seto said as Katsuya groaned again. “Most likely his appendix.”

“Gas - ow - probably.” Katsuya tried to straighten. “He’s 32 weeks and his water just broke.”

“BaseER,” the paramedic said into his radio, “we have two emergency patients. Is there an OBGYN available?” He listened for a moment. “Excuse me, are you the Kaiba Family?”

“Yes. I’m Kaiba-” Kat caught Seto’s slight pause, “-chan.”

“Thank you. Yes, it’s them. Uh-huh. Thank you.” The paramedic gestured Seto to the couch. “I have your doctor on the line. How far apart are your contractions?”

The other paramedic helped Kat lie on the gurney. “Let’s just do a few quick checks, Kaiba-sama.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Ow.”

“You’re in pain now? Where?”

“Kind of here. All over here.”

“Constant? Comes and goes?”

“Comes and goes.”

“When did it start?”

“Well, I’ve had bad gas for like a week - ow - so, but this just started yesterday.”

“Kura!” The paramedic working with Seto grabbed the one working with Kat and whispered something. They both looked at the Kaibas.

“Right!” Kura said abruptly. “Kaiba-chan, please forgive us, but I don’t think it would be wise for Kaiba-sama to walk. Do you think you can walk with Ryou-san’s assistance?”

“Of course. What’s wrong with my...husband?”

“The doctor wants us to bring you both in straight away, and they are ready to run some tests.” Ryou assured him. “May I help you up?”

“I am so sorry, Kaiba-sama,” Kura said to Katsuya, “but I must strap you down.”

The trip down the elevator was torture for Kat but he tried not to groan. “He’s in real labor, isn’t he,” he said to get his mind off the pain.

“Don’t worry! Even if it is preterm labor, they can stop it,” Kura assured him. “We just all need to remain calm.”

Out of the building, into the ambulance. Katsuya hissed sharply, but waived off Seto when he hovered over him.

“Kaiba-chan, please sit over here so I can belt you in.” Once they were all settled, Kura drove and Ryou sat in the back with them. “Ok, Kaiba-sama, I just want to check your blood pressure while we go. Just relax.”

“Check his,” Kat protested. “He’s the one about to pop!”

“Now, now. At seven months, Kaiba-chan is probably right, and this is false labor. We’re just taking him in as a precaution. How are you feeling, Kaiba-chan? Still feeling anything?”

“The occasional contraction,” he admitted. “Nothing to make me believe this is more than - than -” he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I’m fine. See to my wi - my husband.”

Kat groaned as if on cue. “Dude, can I sit up? Lying flat like this is killing me!”

“Of course.” The paramedic changed the bed’s position. “Kaiba-chan, you too. I need you to tell me if you feel uncomfortable. Especially if you feel the need to push.”

“Obviously I am uncomfortable,” he rolled his eyes. “I’m carrying twins. And I’ve been trying not to push for hours.”

Ryou stopped adjusting the gurney. “How strong an urge? On a scale of one to ten, ten being you can’t stop at all.”

“I’m fine. Surely you have some kind of pain killer for him.”

“Kaiba-chan, I cannot do my job if you do not answer my questions honestly. How strong is your urge to push?”

Seto huffed. “Perhaps a six. I can control this provided we arrive at our destination in the next thirty minutes.”

“Thirty….” Ryou’s frustrated sigh said what he wasn’t willing to. “Kura?” He leaned forward to have a conversation with his partner.

Katsuya gaped at Seto. “You can't deliver in a car, Otto-sama.”

“This is not my choice of locations, either, _Otto-sama_.”

“Ok!” Ryou began unstrapping Kat. “Kaiba-sama, I know you are in great pain, but I’m afraid -”

Kat got up as soon as his legs were free. “He can’t deliver, dude. Omegas die in natural childbirth.”

“No one’s going to die today, sir, but I do need to get Kaiba-chan in a better position.”

“Ow. How can I help?”

“You just sit. Kura’s going to -”

“Ryou!” his partner yelled. “Got them. Pick up!”

The paramedic tried to balance the phone on his shoulder and move Seto at the same time. Kat ignored his screaming stomach and helped.

“OB? I have an omega-4-2-5. Active preterm labor.” Ryou listened for a minute. “No. No. Six.” The vehicle took a sharp turn, throwing them all.

“Sorry!” Kura yelled.

“Ot - uh - Tsuma how you doing?”

“Fine.” Seto panted for a moment. “I have this under control.”

Ryou spread Seto’s legs. “Pardon me.” He had lubricant and a tool. “You may feel a pinch.”

“Agghh!” Seto actually cried out.

“Hey!” Katsuya protested.

“Eight point three seven. Approximately twenty minutes, he said. No, no that doesn’t. Kaiba-chan, how far apart would you guess the contractions are now?”

“Three minutes, thirty-six seconds,” Seto replied. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“Was that one?” Katsuya asked.

“You should be sitting down. This is all pointless if you die of a burst appendix.”

“Like you know? Fuck my appendix! This is all pointless if you die! I can’t think without you. I can’t even breathe!”

Seto stroked his cheek. “Darling. I didn’t know what life was until I met you.” He took another deep breath. “And ‘fuck’ should not be the first word your son hears.”

“Kaiba-chan, you’re pushing!” Ryou snapped. “Stop that.”

“I don’t think I can.” Seto took another breath.

“You said thirty minutes!” Kat yelled.

“I lied!” Seto yelled back. “FUCK!”

“Shit!” Kat looked at the paramedic. “What should I do?”

“OB, we have an active delivery. Uh-huh. Yes, yes, several, but not - uh, hold on.” He fished through a drawer and found a flashlight. “Yes. Seriously?” He handed the flashlight to Kat. “Hold this.” He knelt between Seto’s legs. “Lower. Lower. Yeah. Keep it there. OB? Yes I have a head.”

“He’s crowning?” Seto panted.

“I think?” Katsuya bent over, careful to keep the light on Seto’s expanded canal. “Yeah, ‘cause that definitely ain’t a shit!”

“Katsuya!” Seto barked then took another breath.

“Father,” Ryou began removing the tool that held Seto’s rectum open. “I think this is going to be quick.” A small head appeared. “Take off your shirt.”

To wrap the baby in, he realized. Kat dropped the flashlight and whipped his shirt over his head.

When he looked back there was a small, blood covered face.

“Oh - oh kami!” he breathed.

“Kaiba-chan, just a couple more pushes. You’re doing fine.”

Seto gasped and took another breath, but Katsuya was lost. Absolutely lost watching a living, squirming baby appear.

Suddenly a newborn wail filled the small space.

“Father?” Ryou said.

Katsuya remembered the shirt and offered it.

“No,” the paramedic chuckled. “Take the baby, skin-to-skin.” He pushed a tiny girl into Kat’s arms. She was hardly bigger than his hand. “Very important for early bonding.” 

“It’s a girl,” Kat said, and Ryou nodded. “It’s a girl,” he repeated to Seto in shock.

“It’s not ours!” Seto sounded panicked. “Where are the boys? Where are 'Katsuichi' and 'Katsuji'?”

“Do you feel the need to push, Papa?” The paramedic asked.

“No! NO! What’s wrong?!”

“Nothing! Babies are often like this. They don’t always all come at once.”

“Are you sure?”

Ryou placed a stethoscope on his stomach and first let Seto then Katsuya listen. The loud steady heartbeat they’d heard for months was still there.

“So who’s little miracle are you?” Katsuya asked the yawning babe in his arm.

“Father, we aren’t done yet.”

“Huh? But you said -”

“Papa can take a break and hold her but you need to cut the cord.”

“Give her to me!” Seto demanded.

“Your shirt,” Kat said.

Seto huffed and took off his entire dress. “Now!”

Katsuya handed over the child and stole a kiss in the process.

The vehicle took another sharp turn. “How are we doing back there?” Kura shouted.

“How much longer?” Ryou shouted back.

“Just waiting for the damn light!”

“OB, we are across the street. We have three patients. The third is female, two minutes old, breathing.” He put down the radio and offered Kat an odd pair of scissors. “Father?” He took them. “Cut here. And here. Open that bag. Yes. Thank you. We keep the cord, very impor-”

They all got thrown as the ambulance came to an abrupt halt.

The door opened. Seto’s ObGyn pushed in before anyone else could move. She listened to Seto’s stomach. “The echo. The echo is gone. Triplets. Damn it,” she huffed. “You!” She gestured to Katsuya. “Kogoro-sensei is waiting for you at admissions. Move!”

Katsuya tried to rush out of the vehicle as the doctor gave the paramedics and nurses other orders, but somehow his feet wouldn’t turn right. He felt himself falling and everything went dark.


	21. Chapter 21

There was a knock at the door, and then a nurse stepped in. “Good morning, Kaiba-sama, Jou-chan. It’s time for breakfast.” He wheeled in a tray.

“Thank you, Yumi-chan!” Katsuya was far too cheerful in the morning. “Ours or theirs?”

Yumi laughed. “You first.” He positioned the tray next to the small dining table and went to the double sized bassinet between Seto and Katsuya’s beds. “They are just so sweet at this age! And they really do look just like you, Jou-chan.”

At some point, Seto and Katsuya removed the wigs and contacts. If the hospital staff noticed, none of them commented. Then again, they were chosen for their medical skill and personal discretion.

Otogi Private Hospital was upper crust even among private facilities. The rooms were more like hotel suites. There were two or three nurses assigned per patient. Rates averaged ¥720,000 per night.

Well worth the price in Seto’s opinion.

Three days ago at 11:52pm on the 25th, he delivered tiny, quiet Setsuko in the ambulance. His sons, Katsuichi Setsuya, were delivered by cesarean on the 26th at 1:24am. They were larger than their sister.

The boys were also conjoined. They were born at the same time, taking their first breaths together.

“It’s minimal,” his OB assured him while showing him the 10mm piece of flesh connecting the identical twins. “But it is why their hearts were in perfect sync and so strong. I want to do a few tests to confirm that there are no issues, and then we can surgically split them before they leave.

“They have more organ development than their sister. I wouldn't be surprised if they were conceived at least a week apart,” the doctor observed. ”That isn't particularly rare in Alpha-omega couples. Overlapping heat and rut cycle can lead to multiple conceptions.”

Seto had waited for the boys’ test results while he also waited for his wife to return from his surgery.

Katsuya, in the height of irony, truly did have a ruptured appendix.

“There are smaller, less invasive surgical methods,” Sensei chuckled, “but I thought you might appreciate a classic bikini cut.”

His wife had been overjoyed. “So I’m gonna have a cesarean scar? Really? Awesome!”

“The more difficult situation is you, Kaiba-sama. Echo was -”

“Setsuko,” Seto corrected him. “Echo was a pathetic woman of myth without the ability to speak her own mind. My very real daughter may have been quiet, but I guarantee she will be no mere ‘echo’.” 

“Otto-sama, relax!” Katsuya grinned. “It's a cute nickname. I mean, we’ve been calling her ‘Echo’ since the beginning!”

“Had I known she wasn’t a misinterpretation, I would never have allowed that.”

“BE that as it may, sir,” the sensei cut over them. “Once an omega has a cloacal birth, any subsequent pregnancies risk a greater chance of also being cloacal. The recommendation is -”

“I think the simplest solution in this case is to remove all reproductive organs.”

The sensei hesitated. “We could do a hysterectomy, yes. That would have issues of its own. However -”

“And we wouldn’t be able to have any more kids, Otto-sama!”

Seto rolled his eyes. “Schedule it for today. Before this scar truly begins healing.”

“Wait, Seto, I’m serious. I don’t mean, let’s have another next year, but tying your tubes makes more sense, doesn’t it?”

“If I ever intended to have another, yes. But I do not, so eliminating the risk entirely is more efficient.”

“Otto-sama -”

“If you insist, they can harvest the ovum and store them. We can use a surrogate for _your_ second pregnancy.”

“Sensei, talk to him. I know this was rough, but isn’t cutting out healthy tissue bad?”

The doctor hesitated. “Frankly, Kaiba-chan, it would not be unwarranted.”

“Aw, come on!”

“Apart from the simple logic, and Kaiba-sama’s personal preference, the statistics show that omegas who survive natural births are prone to having natural births in their second pregnancies.”

“Ok, so we gotta watch out for that.”

“There is a tendency for them to die of complications in the third trimester. Kaiba-sama, you told me once that your mother died in childbirth. Do you know the exact cause of death? Was she an omega?”

Seto hesitated. “I honestly do not remember. It’s entirely possible that I never knew.”

“The tendencies do run in families. If your mother was an omega male and delivered you naturally, he may have died in the unexpected birth -”

“OK!” Katsuya signaled defeat. “We’ll do the surrogate thing. I’m not losing you like that.”

Seto nodded, more sober but satisfied. “Get a cosmetic surgeon as well, and do a bit of liposuction. I want to erase as many signs of this event as possible.”

Now, with all four male members of the family healing, they waited for the Neonatal Intensive Care unit to release their daughter. Only then would Seto allow visitors. He even barred Mokuba.

It was proof that Katsuya was still in shock that he did not argue.

Instead, each morning of their recovery, a nurse brought breakfast, and then Katsuya would hum happily as he nursed both sons.

Seto watched briefly, then went to the NICU to bottle feed Setsuko. High calorie meals as often as she could. She was growing rapidly, but not fast enough for her Tou-san’s tastes.

“You are requiring me to change my plans, little one,” he explained to her patiently. “You need to learn that is not acceptable behavior for a proper young lady.”

Twins, a single parent could handle. Two children were more work, but not impossible.

Triplets? No. Leaving Katsuya with the responsibility of three infants was not in the plan. The nursery would need to be redesigned. The educational funds would only last to high school instead of through college.

But the worst part was the DNA determinations. Kat had been against running the tests, so Seto had them done secretly. Setsuko was Alpha but her brothers were omegas. An honorable death would have to wait until Seto was certain that the boys were self sufficient.

”Ah! Kaiba-sama,” the NICU’s specialist came in. “I'm glad you're here. Our little girl is progressing quite well.”

”Of course. She is Kaiba.”

”Well, her fathers are certainly devoted. She's doing well enough, I think that we may be able to move her to your room for the rest of her stay. I'll want the monitors to stay active, and the nurse will have to check on her frequently, but what do you think?”

”I’ll take her now. Have the bed and other equipment brought as soon as it can be arranged.” Seto stood up with his daughter and left to call Roland.

Time for the family to visit. Seto hadn’t wanted to introduce the girl if she would never leave the hospital. Now, assured of her survival, he needed to bring his family together. Several things needed to change at KaibaManor before he accepted his defeat at KaibaCorp.

He lost to Gozaburo; he would bow his head to him when they met on the other side. But Papa - his real father - would expect more. Only then would Seto’s death be honorable.


	22. Chapter 22

Someone was crying. It came through the baby monitor loud and clear.

Katsuya tried to open his eyes, but they didn’t want to lift.

Probably Suya. Echo was scarily silent most mornings. Ichi’s cries had a different tone.

Like that, he thought, as a second cry joined the first.

“Who’s turn is it?” Seto’s deep voice rumbled through the pillows.

“What time did you get them?”

“Four.”

Kat sighed. “Mine.”

“Good morning, nephews, niece.” Noa’s voice through the monitor was actually cheerful. “We’ll let Papa sleep, ok?” He soothed them and chatted softly as he settled them down.

“That boy has absolutely no blood connection to Gozaburo,” Seto murmured. “He is positively angelic.”

“How is he not an omega girl?” Kat agreed. “He should be the mommy.”

“I don’t want him to be the mommy,” Seto snuggled into Katsuya’s back. “I want you to be the mommy.”

Kat instinctively snuggled against his husband. “mmmm. Daddy.”

“No, not today you little minx.” Seto kissed his neck. “I have plans.”

“awww…”

“You should get up. They won’t stay tame for long, even for him.”

“Otto-sama,” Katsuya’s sleepy, playful mood fading, replaced by a growing fear. “Am I - am I not attractive any more?”

Seto’s arms tightened. “You are more beautiful now than you ever have been. It’s me. I haven’t been... aroused since the birth.”

“Since before. Have you -” he hesitated. Their sex life had vanished. Kat was beginning to worry that he was the only one who cared. “Is that pretty common? I mean, you asked Sensei, right?”

“Everything is fine. I should revert to my old self soon. Until then, I have been trying to be affectionate. Have I failed?”

Katsuya rolled over and wrapped his arms around his husband. “No! Never! You’ve never failed, Otto-sama!”

“Everyone fails eventually, some more spectacularly than others. In this, I am failing you.”

“No. If you are feeling pressured, then I’m failing you. I’m sorry. It’s -”

“Stop. Don’t. You do not owe me an apology. I owe you. This is my issue and I should have been more forthcoming in discussing it with you.” Seto sat up. “You do have needs and if I cannot meet them, perhaps a lover would be -”

“Impossible!” Katsuya sat up as well, smacking his husband’s shoulder. “What the hell are you even thinking? Why would I even think about somebody else, when I have you?”

“I cannot satisfy you.”

He took Seto’s face in both hands. “Otto-sama, if we never have sex again in this life, I would still love you more than life. I would still want to be your wife. Will I miss it? Of course! But Seto, I don’t love you because you fuck me. That’s just a bonus.”

Seto looked at him for a long moment. Usually his eyes seemed to burn, but today they were like two oceans. He took Kat’s hands and kissed them. “A prince, perhaps. A king if I can find one. Nothing less would be worthy of you. And there’s Setsuko. Why is she so loud?”

“You need to be louder. If something’s wrong, tell me. If I can’t fix it, let me at least bitch about it with you.”

“What is wrong is that your daughter is too loud. Go feed the child.”

“I’m not playing, here, Otto-sama.”

Seto kissed him softly. “I know, Tsuma-darling.” Seto got out of bed.

Katsuya got up, too. He grabbed a robe and hurried to the nursery.

Noa was trying to feed all three infants at once.

“Sorry, dude!” Kat grabbed the closest one.

“Good morning, nii-chan! I think Suya-chan has diaper rash again. His skin seems more sensitive than Ichi-chan’s. Am I doing something wrong?”

“Nah.” Kat chuckled, kissing his son’s head. “Kids get diaper rash if they wear diapers.”

They fed the children, cleaned them, and dressed them for the day.

They were down at the front door in time to catch Seto before he left for the day.

“Are you sure about this?” Katsuya asked. “I mean, I thought the board was pretty serious about kicking you out.”

“Oh they are,” Seto agreed. “But taking my legal eight months of child care leave will forestall their plans. If they remove me while I am caring for newborn triplets, I will sue them and own the corporation outright. If they attempt to reveal my gender, they will have to prove it, which will make KaibaCorp look like bullies, and damage the company’s reputation severely. The market already has some instability while I have been ‘sick’. The appointment of that Dartz idiot as my interim replacement has exacerbated the issue. No, I will go to the HR office today and quietly take my legally granted leave, and the board will not say a word.”

“You say so.” Katsuya offered a child for a goodbye kiss. “We are going to Dad’s this morning. If we’re not home when you get back, we’ll probably still be there.”

Seto kissed two more heads. “Very well. How do I look?”

Kat rolled his eyes. Seto’s suits fit perfectly the day they got home from the hospital. The model was extremely jealous. Thanks to his nursing ‘food plan’, he’d gained a good ten kilos.

“I thought I was the model,” he pouted.

Seto smirked. “You’re cute when you pout.”

“I’m always cute.”

“True.” He tilted Kat’s chin down and kissed the top of his head. “Give your father my regards.”

He watched his husband leave the house.

“I don’t think you should have let onii-sama carry the babies for you,” Noa observed.

“What?” Katsuya stared at his brother-in-law trying to determine how he meant that comment.

“Seto onii-sama told me that he had to carry the babies for you because you couldn’t.”

“Uh...uh, yeah.”

“But I don’t think an Alpha should have babies even if he is special and can do it. Auntie says ‘can’ and ‘should’ are different for a reason.” 

“Yeah. She’s right.”

“So next time you have to be a proper mommy.” Noa looked at him sternly. “Even if it’s hard.”

The expression was actually dark for the normally good natured boy. Not one Kat would like to be on the wrong side of twice. He bowed properly. “Yes, Noa-nii-san.”

Noa nodded once sharply. “Good.” Suddenly he gasped. “The wall bumper! I forgot to bring it!” He ran back upstairs.

“Dude! We can just put some pillows -” He shook his head, chuckling.

But it faded. Noa was right. He shouldn’t have let Seto get pregnant. Everything would have been fine if that hadn’t happened.

Not that Katsuya regretted the three loud bundles of joy that woke him every day, but if he’d known Seto would have postpartum depression, he really would have knocked up some floozy. Technologically knocked up some floozy. Kat wanted to get laid so bad it hurt, but not by anybody except his husband.

“Soon,” he sighed. Soon, Seto would be back to himself and then everything could go back to the way it was.


	23. Chapter 23

“I am honored, Kaiba-sama,” the VP of HR bowed. She glanced at the uncomfortable-looking chairs in her office. “Why don’t we move to -”

“Your office is fine,” Seto smiled as he seated himself. “I am, after all, an employee here to see you.”

“Oh?” She closed the door and quickly sat herself. “How may I help you?”

“What is the procedure for requesting child care leave?”

She laughed lightly. “Sir, you didn’t need to come in for that! I’ll just put a note on the system. How are the little ones? Do you have pictures?”

“Thousands! My father-in-law took a series at the hospital, and another when we brought them home. Any more and I’ll require a modeling contract.”

“I’m sure he’s just excited.”

“I agree.” Seto smiled again. He picked up the frame on the desk, glanced at the VP smiling with a young boy, and set the photo down again. “So. You handle fathers’ requests for child care leave?”

“Well, we don’t have that many.”

“Ah, yes. Well, I suppose not. No paperwork? No forms to sign?”

“Oh, well, there is a form, but I can complete that and send it to you. You don’t need to waste your time with that.”

“I see. So any father simply has to come tell you he wishes to take leave for his child, and that’s all?”

Her smile became a bit more forced. “Well, for other employees, they would have to complete the form because I wouldn’t know all the relevant information.”

“And you know all of mine.”

“I - well -”

“Or is this so much simpler for me because my title is CEO?”

She tried to laugh. “Is that really so bad, sir?”

Seto tried not to be smug. He pulled out his phone. Casually he opened his email and began reading aloud. “My wife was in a car accident a month after the baby and ‘she’ wouldn’t even talk to me; I had to go to the Employment Office.”

“What?”

“It’s a comment on my paternity board. I asked the group if they or anyone they knew had taken child care leave from KaibaCorp. I was told not to bother. This gentleman was the worst, I think, but no one’s experience was pleasant.”

“I - they - uh - you can’t trust what people in those kinds of groups say. They probably didn’t qualify for benefits.”

“It seems that all of them were fathers of newborns.”

“And notification! I’m sure they didn’t give proper notice, or follow the procedures!”

Seto scrolled a bit. “I told my boss the day my wife and I told our parents. He said I would only be allowed to take two weeks. If I took more, he’d be forced to release me.”

“Obviously that’s not true.”

“Oh?”

“It is illegal to fire an employee for taking leave.”

“I was told my position was downsized,” he read.

“Layoffs are different!”

“KaibaCorp has never laid off employees. When I argued that it was a bad practice, Gozaburo made it my task to see that every employee from terminated projects was reassigned.”

“Ah. Yes.” She flushed and looked away from him.

“I won’t read all of these. Many of them refer to a woman here in Human Resources - but I’m sure that could mean any woman in the department.”

“Of - of course.”

“The comments are all from the non-birth parent, all were encouraged by management to take no more than two weeks, and to consider the company’s needs while they were supposed to be caring for their families.”

The VP gathered herself. “Kaiba-sama. Let us be honest, shall we? It is a mother’s job to raise children. Father’s support them. What kind of father would throw away his career to spend a few weeks changing diapers?”

Internally, Seto snarled, but didn’t say what he was thinking. He needed an insider to make his plan work. He switched tactics. “Are you his mother or his father?”

Her eyes darted to the photo, then narrowed. “His father,” she said tightly.

“Ah. So you understand the desire to spend time with your child.”

“Of course!” she snapped. “But I have a responsibility to this company - your company - to be here and do my job.”

“Of course. Tell me one thing.”

“What?”

“Did that make you happy?” He leaned back in the chair and watched her. “Did watching your child bond with your spouse, become distant from you, become part of your obligations - did that make you happy?”

“If you are implying that I don’t love my son because I am a loyal employee -”

“I am implying that being a loyal employee has hurt your relationship with the child you love.” She gasped in outrage, but he went on. “And I regret that. I am dismayed to find that in a country that so prizes our families, we penalize our fathers for wanting to love their children. I intend to change that, here at least - and you will help me.”

“How? You want to lead by example and take a year off?” She scoffed. “No one would follow! Do you understand? I don’t turn people away, managers do. Or they only request a week in the first place. Or they realize they can’t afford to take time and come back.”

“Yes, I have been researching the negative financial effect of the leave system. I believe I can solve that. It will increase costs in benefits, but I believe that will be offset by decreases in new hires, training, and productivity costs.” Seto leaned forward. “The real question is: are you willing to help me change KaibaCorp? Answer this first. If you could have taken a year off to ‘change diapers’, and come back to this desk with no reprisals - no damage to your career - would you?”

She looked away. She glanced at the photo and then stared out of her window. Seto gave her time.

The VP looked back at him finally. “What do you need me to do?”

“Treat me exactly as you treat any other employee. I will handle the rest. I do, however, need to see some personnel files.”

By the time Seto left, it was with enough compromising data to ensure both his goal and the VP’s continued assistance. Either she was investigating long term abuses, or she violated several privacy laws. Helping Seto was now her only way of avoiding jail time if the data breach were discovered.

He headed home. It would take a few weeks to get his child care benefits active, but once that occurred he would be free to put his affairs in order.

Changing the parental leave policies was in line with changing the omega hiring policies. Both would make the company more in line with Mokuba’s personal philosophies. When his brother took over, the corporation would be ready for him.

Seto needed to turn more attention to TwinDragons. Setsuko would inherit KaibaCorp, regardless of policy changes. The boys, however, would need insurance in case Seto failed again. TwinDragons needed to become a solid company. Games for special needs players was a largely untapped market. He should have no problem building a company to explore it. A few young, idealistic programmers, someone who understands the physiological issues, and a progressive administrator to run the firm.

Soon, he sighed. Soon everything would be ready. He was looking forward to it. He had lots of stories for Mama and Papa.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Setsuko means 'quiet child'. It is written with the same characters as SEto and KaTSUya. I legit laughed outloud when I found the name.
> 
> Also: Please read the end notes. Thank you.

“There are three hundred invited guests,” Seto shifted Setsuya to a more comfortable position and continued feeding him, “so everyone should fit nicely downstairs.”

“Three hundred people should not fit in a house.” Katsuya began nursing Setsuko. Katsuichi was settled on the specially designed couch between them in a seat that held a bottle for him. “And I still say it’s too soon to do something this public.”

“100 days is traditional. Now. This morning will be simple. Mokuba has arranged a press conference at KaibaCorp. He’ll make a few opening remarks, then present me, then I will present them. It will be more or less like the day I presented you.”

“So you say. I still don’t know what to wear. I was thinking about the red and white set for them.”

“Agreed. I’ll help Noa dress these three. You should wear something masculine, but maternal.”

“Oh it’ll be maternal; I’m nursing, remember? Why masculine?”

“Because I think you are sexier in pants.” Seto grinned.

“Horndog!”

“It takes one to know one,” he smirked. “Ah! Noa! Perfect timing.” His brother was frowning. “Is something amiss?”

“Moki-nii said not to tell you,” he answered honestly.

Seto and Katsuya exchanged a look.

“Sounds like a good reason to tell us,” Kat observed.

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. Do you believe Mokuba is going to do something illegal or harmful?”

Noa frowned more deeply. “Well…. He’s not going to hurt anybody. Not like a fight, or anything.”

“I see. So he’s made a decision, and you believe he’s made the wrong choice?”

“Yeah.”

“So what did he decide?” Kat pushed.

“I am curious as well,” Seto sighed. “But Mokuba is an adult now. I am no longer responsible for making decisions for him.”

“Adult? Come on! It’s a piece of paper! He’s not even sixteen yet. Hell, he’s too young to consent!”

“Mokuba is a legally emancipated adult, and that piece of paper must be taken seriously - especially by us. Unless you would rather someone else control our income and residence.”

“...yeah, I get that.” Kat adjusted Katsuichi’s bottle. “Still stupid."

“Not entirely. I would not have supported this if I did not have faith in my brother’s ability to make wise decisions. If he has made a choice that seems unwise, I suspect that it is either to avoid something with a greater cost, or he is acting to protect someone else.”

Noa looked extremely uncomfortable. “He - he might be.”

Seto nodded and stood with Setsuya. “I see. In business, usually the simplest answer is the correct one. But in our lives, it is not as clear. It was very hard to let Mokuba make his own choices. I want to protect him. But, in order for him to grow stronger, I left him to his own devices. Just as one day I will leave this one.” He stroked his son’s cheek. “It will be hard to leave them, but they will be stronger when I do.” He smiled at his wife and brother. “Now. We do have a schedule and I intend to be on time. I am going to dress these three, Katsuya is going to dress himself, and if you would like to have one last conversation with Mokuba before we leave, now would be a good time.”

Noa nodded, looking thoughtful. He left the nursery.

Katsuya got up and kissed Seto. “You are amazing.”

“That kiss was amazing.”

“You think Moku-nii is giving up something to stay with Noa-kun?”

“It seems reasonable. But we’ll have to prod it out of him later. Right now, we are running late. I’m sure there are others planning to use the main conference room.”

When they all arrived for the press conference, however, it was not at the corporate headquarters. The hotel Mokuba had chosen was decked out for the upcoming new year. Red and gold, and a large number of horses.

Seto checked the monitor showing the area the press were in. Tamora was signaling someone at the door, but it looked to Seto like all of the key news outlets were there.

Although there were some notable absences.

“Mokuba,” Seto glanced at his brother. “I am not seeing anyone from the Board.”

“Oh darn.” Mokuba didn’t even look up from his tablet. “I must have forgotten to tell them.”

“Mokuba!” Katsuya gasped in frustration. “How do you forget -” Seto merely chuckled at the almost fondly remembered tactic. “You think this is funny?”

“Gozaburo used to do that. The irritating thing is realizing that you aren’t even missed when the announcement is made.”

“That’s pretty petty, isn’t it?”

“Well,” Seto shrugged. “This is, after all, more of a family announcement than a corporate one.” In his mind, he edited a few of his planned remarks.

The door opened and Roland stepped in, bowing. “Kaiba-sama, Kaiba-san, we are ready for you.”

“Thank you.” He stood. “I’ll make a few remarks, then introduce the children. Noa, do not respond to any questions. We will introduce you to the public, but not here.”

“Yes, onii-sama.”

“Mokuba, do you have any opening comments?”

“Uh, yeah.” The boy tapped a few more keys, then closed the tablet. “Kinda a big one.”

“Something I should know in advance?”

The boy actually blushed. “You were gonna yell at me anyway.”

“If you are about to make me an uncle, I will do more than yell.”

“GEEZ, big bro! Not that!” The red deepened.

“Call them.” Seto forced himself to look stern.

“Oh, right.” He pulled out his phone and dialed. “Hey. Tell the fun bunch to check out the live feed on JFN.” He hung up. “Ready?”

“You two are a mess,” Katsuya sighed.

Roland led them to a spot behind a curtain. “Kaiba-chan, Kaiba-kun, you may sit here. This platform slides. When you are called, we will move you and the children forward.”

“How fast?” Katsuya asked.

“At baby speed, sir.” Roland gestured to the waiting couch and they sat. He turned to Mokuba. “We are ready to proceed when you are, sir.”

When the press conference began, Mokuba casually stepped up to the podium.

“I am resigning from KaibaCorp,” Mokuba announced without preamble, “effective immediately.”

“What the fuck?” Katsuya murmured. “Is this what Noa -” Seto gestured him quiet.

Around them, there was a collective gasp as the press core reeled, and then a chorus of questions shouted.

Mokuba ignored them.

“When we started the Gender-Neutral Internship, I started to realize that I know a lot of smart people. Smart Alphas, obviously, and smart Betas, but some really smart omegas, too. So, I got a hold of some test scores and I did some comparisons. And I found this one guy. This one omega guy who’s beat me everywhere. He’s better at math, at Japanese, at geography even. He’s in college now. So I’m going to college, too. Oxford has this program. They combine your last two years of high school with your first two years of college. I applied last year, and I got accepted for the program starting next semester. If I do well, I’ll finish my bachelors and my masters degrees at the same time. 

“I wasn’t planning to go, really, because well, it’s gonna be hard. But my brother reminded me today about that omega. Everything he does is hard. But he does it anyway. So I have to go.”

There was a flurry of questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like this chapter. Actually, I don't like everything after the birth. It feels like I wrote past the end. There is a part three, probably. I have three versions started, with all three failing for different reasons. Seto's depression, ABO issues, and as someone just reminded me, the Kawaii family all need to be addressed. But I am stuck with the truth that what we believe isn't always what we live. How do you tell your children to be honest when you live a fundamental lie? So. Eventually I will answer these questions enough to produce a conclusion.
> 
> I will tell you this bit. Mikail loves Ren as much as Ayuka does. At some point soon, Katsuya's parents will form a triad relationship. That's the only piece that's set in stone.


End file.
